Sesshomaru Loves A Fox?
by Naomi U
Summary: Sesshomaru comes across a half human, half Silver Fox demon who seems to have no idea of her demon heritage. Sesshomaru finds himself falling in love with a half-breed, a species which he has always proclaimed to hate. What will happen with our smexy Lord Sesshomaru? Read and find out! SesshomaruXOC- I do not own Inuyasha or make a profit from this story-applies to all chapters
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I do not own Inuyasha or any of it's characters. I do however, own the plot for the story as it is a belated birthday present for my best friend who this stories OC is based on. I unfortunately make no money from this either. :(

Lynn blinked and looked around. Curiously, she had a feeling that she wasn't where she fell asleep anymore. It _seemed _like the same place, but something about it was just…off. Johnnie-Lynn "Lynn" Carter sat up and looked around. "What the hell?" she muttered. It definitely wasn't where she fell asleep.

She was suddenly glad that she had a few of her knifes on her; her collapsible shuriken which was attached to the waistband of her black jeans; her throwing knifes which she hid very well inside her knee high leather hooker boots; and her Warrier Spike knife (yes it's real; I'm looking at it right now lol; it's basically a curved blade with a spiked knuckle guard like brass knuckles; google Warrier Spike Knife) attached to a holster under her left arm. She hadn't needed them back at home, but she had a feeling she may need them here. She turned in circles, looking around. Some of it was familiar to the rare, untouched meadows around Savannah, Georgia. The rest was…not. There seemed to be many, many more trees and flowers there then when she went to sleep.

Not to mention she more or less sensed the not so nice atmosphere surrounding the current meadow she occupied. Looking around, she couldn't see anything, but she could feel something watching her.

Hesitantly for her, she walked forward, deciding that it was best that she have a look around and see what she was dealing with. If she were home, she would be more inclined to just go blazing in. She didn't know how, but she had a feeling that she ended up in a different time, and she wasn't very keen on rushing head on into something she knew nothing about.

Of course, several questions flew through her mind as she observed her surroundings: How did she come to be here? Where was here? Was it the same place only a different time? Or was it a similar meadow to the one in Savannah, but a different state or country? She wasn't sure of the answers to any of these questions as of yet, but she made a vow to find out.

As she neared what she assumed was a forest, a big bush to her right rustled, causing her to pause and eye it warily. For a few moments, it continued to rustle, as if something was caught in it. Thinking such, she leaned forward, thinking it was a fox or a rabbit that was stuck in the bush somehow, and was going to see if she could free it.

That was a mistake on her part, for the moment she leaned closer, a hideous looking creature that was about waist high jumped out with a snarl. Thankfully, she had pretty quick reflexes (when she didn't trip over flat surfaces of course) and immediately jumped back. 'It's a good thing that I'm wearing hooker boots with thicker heals than what I normally wear,' she thought idly to herself as she observed the grotesque creature before her.

It was a pukish green color and seemed to be oozing a disgusting smelling liquid from several gashes that looked to be wounds. She wasn't a doctor, but she was almost positive that it was puss coming from the gashes. Either that or the place was a hell on Earth and this creature was a demon with natural puss emitting gashes. Which wouldn't be a surprise; she had always suspected that she'd end up in hell one day-only she'd be driving the yellow cheese wagon to transport people to hell as her best friend Maggie would be the one ruling over it. Needless to say, she wasn't particularly afraid of the short demon, but she wasn't reckless enough to attack without knowing how it worked.

"What the hell are you and what do you want?" she asked it, backing away a bit and putting enough distance between it and her in case she needed to get to her weapons quickly. Her dirty blonde hair flew up around her face as the wind blew it forward, making it billow in the wind along with her white with black splatter button up over shirt.

The creature before her merely looked at her and growled threateningly, as if it understood her, but either refused to answer or lacked the intelligence to do so. Judging by its looks, she believed it to be rather unintelligent. She arched a brow at its audacity when it finally decided to attack her. Her reflexes kicked in again and she jumped back again, this time higher and further away, startling not only the demon but herself as well. What surprised her more as she flew through the air was that even though she was flailing her arms in shock was that she landed pretty gracefully on the ground, several feet from the demon.

Her heart pounding, she found herself being glad that she had on a tight spaghetti strap tank top under her white and black splotched shirt; otherwise she was pretty sure she'd be flashing the gross demon before her. And that didn't sit well with her in the least. 'What the hell just happened?' she asked herself, keeping her eyes on the demon before her. When it went to attack her again, she quickly reached under her shirt and unbuttoned the strap holding her Warrier Spike in its holster and whipped it out with practiced grace.

The creature stopped momentarily, eyeing her and the blade warily, before deciding neither were a threat and grinned toothily and cockily. Lynn hid a smile of her own at this creatures look, knowing it was underestimating her and her ability to use her own blades that she practiced with daily. 'Well,' she smirked internally, 'it's about to get a shock, now isn't it.' Neither she nor the demon noticed the golden eyes watching them.

When the demon decided to attack again, she waited till it got closer before she punched it straight on its forehead, leaving several holes from the spikes on the knuckle guard that leaked what she assumed was blood even though it was a greenish color. The demon squawked and glared at the human before him before growling and jumping towards her again, only to draw back when she expertly brought her knife down and scratched his chest, leaving a green trail of blood.

Before it could recover, she flew forward, and in a graceful move for her, sent her right foot sailing for the demons head, nailing it in the temple, causing the demon to yelp and stagger, thus causing it to lose focus for a moment, but a moment was all she needed as she deftly charged forward and plunged her five and a half inch blade into the demons heart, effectively killing it.

As it collapsed to the ground, she found a big leaf from one of the bushes nearby and wiped the blood from it before re-sheathing her blade, making a face all the while. "That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen," she muttered, shuddering at the smell. She decided to continue her adventure through the forest. But before she could make a move in any one direction, she suddenly felt a chill up her spine. Someone was still watching her.

Cautiously, she turned around looking at the surroundings. At first she didn't see anything, but her careful scrutiny revealed a pair of shadowed golden eyes. Narrowing her eyes at the eyes, she nearly growled out "Reveal yourself! I tire of these hide-and-seek games you creatures seem to want to play!" She watched idly as the most gorgeous looking man she had ever seen stepped from the bushes with a slightly annoyed look on his otherwise stoic face.

The man had gorgeously long, silver hair that hung straight down to nearly his feet, the most gorgeous golden eyes she had ever seen-of course given that she'd never seen golden eyes like his before made it the only pair of eyes she had seen like that, especially the cat like slits for pupils. His face was slim and nearly elfin like. There wasn't an ounce of fat anywhere she could see. Only what appeared to be broad muscle under the billowing white fabric he was clothed in. The only color on his person that wasn't white was his yellow and blue sash-which she assumed must hold up his pants as well as served as a place to hold his three swords and keep what appeared to be armor in place- and the red honey comb shaped pattern on the shoulders of his shirt and the very tips of the open sleeves. But the elfin ears and face and even the weapons and clothes aren't what she found fascinating.

What she found fascinating was the fluffy boa looking thing over that looked more than just a little bit soft and warm and the markings on the man. He appeared to have a blue crescent moon tattooed on his forehead, a magenta strip on each eyelid, and two purple stripes on each cheek. Oddly enough, the "tattoos" suited him quite well, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. What was even more disturbing was that she could smell his scent.

Her nose crinkled as the scent hit her nose, a mix of honey and what seemed to smell like a very clean dog. Apparently the man before her must have thought that she must have found his smell funny and didn't like it. A growl escaped his lips as he watched her nose scrunch up and an odd look come across her face. She immediately focused on the man before her and ignored his scent in favor of making sure she wasn't about to be attacked.

"What the fuck do you want?" she asked the man before her with a scowl. On the outside, she was all tough guy…but internally she was all sappy high school girl mode. Inside her head she was squealing and dancing around at the extremely HOT male before her. 'Oh…my…God! This man is hot! But why does he smell like honey and dog? And why can I smell him from all the way over here?'

"This Sesshomaru doesn't have to answer to the likes of a half-breed like you, Fox," the man in front of her, apparently Sesshomaru, sneered. A smug look crossed his face as a confused one crossed hers. 'Fox?!' she shrieked indigently in her mind. "Who the fuck are you calling a fox?!" she yelled, pointing a finger in his direction. She of course took it completely the wrong way, thinking he meant it in somewhat of a sexual slur, instead of it being that he was under the impression that she was a half fox. Apparently she either didn't get the half-breed slur or it hadn't registered yet.

"You, you miserable half-breed. If you know what's good for you, you'll stop pointing that tainted finger at this Sesshomaru or you'll find yourself missing it as well as the arm attached," he growled out. "Oh, really?" Lynn said snidely. "And what makes you think I'm scared of a fairy looking man like you? Especially considering I just kicked some creatures ass in less than two minutes and you appear to be nothing but a girly man that smells like a _dog_." The growl that came from the man in front of her only made him seem more of the animal he smelled of.

What startled her though was that he disappeared from front of her, only to reappear in her personal space. Surprisingly, she could track his hand moving from his side, glowing green and hissing, and quickly jumping back, again surprising herself with her sudden appearance of agility. Apparently it had surprised the man in front of her too for he growled loudly at being denied his retribution. He was getting angrier by the second as she continuously dodged his poisonous claws with surprising agility. But then again he shouldn't be too surprised, she was half fox, and not just any fox.

If he was smelling correctly, and he knew he was, she was part of the Silver Fox clan. But as far as he knew, there weren't that many left, and there was only one that he knew of that was more or less half fox demon. And he knew for a fact that that one demon was male. So who this person was escaped him. Not that he was familiar with any other Silver Foxes other than the one named Youko Kurama. Kurama himself was rather famous for being a cunning thief, of both baubles and hearts. He was rather notorious, even among the west. He had yet to attempt to steal from Sesshomaru of course, but then he didn't think that the Fox would be stupid enough to even try to steal from someone who could scent him out and track him down.

Sesshomaru stopped trying to attack the obviously much more agile than he thought girl, and instead tried to analyze the situation. He of course didn't have a problem with her other than she disrespected him. But as he thought about it, she was close to Inuyasha's human village and he knew he had never seen her before, and chances were, she probably had no idea who she was disrespecting. Frowning imperceptibly, Sesshomaru eyed her. "Where are you from, half-breed? This Sesshomaru has never seen you near my half-breed brothers' village before."

She had stopped momentarily and eyed him when he suddenly stopped attacking her and seemed to be eyeing her from head to toe as if he just thought of something. 'I really need a cigarette,' Lynn thought to herself. 'This is just too much for me right now.' So thinking, she ignored his question and reached into her back pocket, not caring if he thought she was drawing a weapon or not, and pulled out her pack of cigarettes and her white lighter that was encased in a dragon lighter sheath with a fake ruby and sapphire below it. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sesshomaru frowning at her a bit, looking as if he was trying to figure out what the hell she was doing. Ignoring him but keeping an eye on him at the same time, she pulled out a cigarette, closed the lid and put the pack back into her pocket before popping the menthol bead in the butt of the cigarette and brought it to her lips.

She noticed, as she lit up her lighter and inhaled to get her cigarette going before placing the lighter back into her pocket with her cigarettes then returning her eyes to him as he eyed her and her cigarette, that he seemed to delicately sniff the air, as if he wasn't trying to make it obvious as to what he was doing. When she noticed his nose scrunch up a bit, she figured he must have caught wind of the smoke from her cigarette and didn't like the smell. "You have a problem with my smoking, _dog_?" "Answer my question, _Fox_," he sneered, not at all pleased with this one's attitude. And he had thought that the half-breeds wench was infuriating. This Fox topped the cake, so to speak.

"And why should I answer? It's not like I owe you a God damned thing," she sneered back. She jumped as her cigarette tip suddenly turned green and proceeded to hiss and steam up towards her lips. In shock and instinct, she let the cigarette fall from her lips and land on the ground and watched shocked as the cigarette dissolved into a small green puddle at her feet. At the loss of her cigarette, one of the very few that she had left from her only pack, she felt rage slowly begin to stream through her blood. Looking up at him with narrowed green eyes that were starting to fleck gold around the edges, she practically snarled at him. "You disintegrated my cigarette. You. Will. Die."

So saying, she whipped out the first thing she could get her hand on, which happened to be her collapsible shuriken and quicker than she had ever done before, flicked open the blades and hurled it at the man before her, only to growl at a green glowing whip that seemed to form from his fingers and knocked her shuriken to the side without a problem. He of course was already growling at her for attacking him, not to mention disrespecting his position and ignoring a direct question but was rather amused when she thought she could harm him with such a tiny weapon. He merely flicked his wrist and grinned internally as his poison whip formed and knocked it aside effortlessly.

The shriek that followed that, however, grated on his sensitive ears and he bared his teeth at the half-breed before him for her rudeness. "My shuriken! You bastard! You melted my shuriken!" Sesshomaru found himself blinking at the scene before him. One minute, the half-breed was standing there and the next there was a taller, bigger breasted Silver Fox standing in her place with sharp golden eyes, fuzzy fox ears on the top of her long silver haired head, and white tipped silver tail swishing around angrily.

If Sesshomaru wasn't the killing perfection that he was named after, he probably would have died right that second, because he could tell the fox before him had a great deal of power, but absolutely no control over it as she glared at him. If he hadn't been a seasoned fighter, he surely would have been caught and possibly killed by the sudden vines popping up from the ground trying to keep him immobile. Not to mention the suddenly vicious plant life that at any other time would seem as harmless as a butterfly.

'Hmm, it doesn't seem as if she knows what to do with the power she has. Interesting. Maybe she doesn't even realize that she's half demon, especially considering she has yet to say something about me pointing out her half-demon status. The only thing she's reacted to so far was the Fox comment,' he mused to himself as he continuously dodged the vines and other plant life attacking him, tearing through them with his claws or whip when he couldn't dodge it quick enough. He realized that he needed to get her under control otherwise she could hurt not only herself, but anyone human who happened to be walking around the forest. Though he only cared about Rin who was staying in Inuyashas' village, not to mention that he knew for a fact that none of the humans other than the slayer and monk and possibly even the half-breeds wench would be walking around the forest at sunset.

"Hn," Sesshomaru grunted to himself and used his unnatural speed to get close to her, smirking as she jumped at his suddenly close proximity, and wrapped an arm around her arms to hold them to her sides before bringing his other arm up to place a hand over her mouth and nose, letting a little of his poison seep out. Not enough to kill, but it would knock her unconscious for a bit. Long enough to figure out what he wanted to do with her at any rate.

It didn't take long for her to fall into unconsciousness. The struggling and heavy breathing probably didn't help much in that factor. The second she lost consciousness, he felt and saw her powers receding back into her body, her body itself returning back to human form. "Interesting for a half-breed, Little Fox," Sesshomaru murmured as he picked her up bridal style and looked down at her. He frowned a bit at the slightly warm feeling that he felt in his chest. It felt slightly warmer than the warmth he usually felt around little Rin.

Wondering at it for only a moment, he turned and walked to a nearby cave, wondering why he was even bothering with the half-Fox demon. Mentally shrugging, he walked the short distance to the cave. Upon arriving, he sniffed around the air in front of the cave to see if he could pick up on anything taking up residence that could be harmful in the cave. Finding nothing but old smells from others who had taken refuge in the cave at one time or another, he deemed it safe enough to deposit the rude Fox he found himself burdened with.

Setting her down, he walked back out and into the forest. She could handle herself, he knew, but he wasn't about to be caught worrying for someone that he hadn't even known long enough to bother with. So he decided that he would walk the perimeter around the cave, making sure that there were no other beings, demon, animal or human, around. After a short walk around the outside of the cave, he settled himself under a tree near the entrance, satisfied to find nothing harmful around. Sighing to himself, so low he barely heard it himself, he made himself comfortable and closed his eyes to rest for a moment, keeping his ears and nose as well as his youkai senses open.

He didn't even stir when he heard the Fox waking up from her poison induced slumber and groan. "What the fuck did that _damn dog _do to me?" Lynn said in a mutter, her voice echoing back to her from the empty cave and startling her. "Where the hell am I now?" she growled out as she sat up and looked around. "Damn it! That stupid dog could have left a fire going or something! I can't see a damn thing!" he heard echoing from the cave. He was both amused and slightly pissed with her at the moment. Amused because she seemed to think someone was going to answer her, not to mention the fact that night had fallen and the only way she could see anything is if he felt like finding some wood for her to make a fire with. And there was no way in hell she was going to do that.

He was pissed because she kept degrading him, calling him a dog. And not just a _dog_, but a _damned dog_. He was a dog, of course. A pure breed Taiyoukai. Pure dog. But it was degrading to be continuously called a dog, even if he was one. Let alone by a half-breed. Let alone by a half-breed Silver Fox. He did find himself smirking a bit as she continued grumbling, but felt his nose wrinkle when he smelled that thing she called a "cigarette" again. It smelled awful, but also minty at the same time.

At this point, however, he found himself questioning his decision not to kill the half-breed. Under any other normal circumstances, he would not hesitate to cut her down. But after finding Rin and fighting alongside his half-breed silver haired, golden eyed brother Inuyasha to kill that bastard half-breed Naraku and his detachments, he found that he had become a bit more tolerant of idiots who didn't know when to shut their mouths. He even tolerated mouthy females a little bit more.

One could say that he realized that as much as he considered himself so, he wasn't the center of the universe. And this is only after being around the ever cheerful dark hair and brown eyed Rin. 'If it wasn't for her,' he mused, 'I more than likely would have killed the Fox by now.' He tilted his head back, sniffing the air, having caught the scent of Jaken and Ah-Un. He flared his aura out, letting Jaken and Ah-Un feel it and giving them his location. Yes, he'd let Jaken find the girl some wood. Maybe he'd even get some amusement out of it.

Ten minutes later, Jaken walked into the small clearing around the cave entrance, Ah-Un being led by his reigns followed, though he would have come to his master without the help of the green Kappa that insisted on following his master. Ah-Un ambled over to his master, nuzzling against the hand that was held out to him before finding a spot, half in, half out of the clearing around the cave and settling down. Sesshomaru felt a shudder go down his spine at Jaken's shrill voice. "My Lord Sesshomaru! We have finally found you, My Lord! Your poor servant Jaken was looking all over for you, My Lord! Where have you been?" Sesshomaru resisted the urge to massage the bridge of his nose in annoyance. If Jaken wasn't such a loyal servant, he probably would have been dead a thousand times over by now. Sesshomaru tried to tune out the rest of Jakens' inane chatter, but found that the shrill voice was getting on his nerves.

He could also hear the Fox muttering to herself about said screeching, thinking it was a dying bird or something. Smirking internally at that thought, he ground out one word in a voice that promised severe pain. "Jaken." Immediately the Kappa shut his mouth, quickly prostrating himself on the ground and groveling, thinking for the millionth time that he was about to meet his death for annoying his Lord. "You will go find some fire wood and take it into the cave." He said in a soft voice, belying his annoyance. Jaken gawked at him in confusion, wondering why he would need wood when Rin wasn't there to make a fire for. "My…Lord…?"

"Need I repeat myself, Jaken? Or do you wish to have your life ended here?" Sesshomaru said coldly, leveling one golden eye on his servant with the promise of death if he disobeyed. "N-no, My Lord! I will go right now, My Lord!" Jaken stuttered out before hauling tail into the forest to find wood suitable for a fire. Of course he could still hear Jaken muttering to himself about having to gather firewood for no reason. Which of course led to a flying rock to the back of his head.

Smirking at the squawk of pain from his servant and the huff that sounded suspiciously like a laugh coming from his two-headed dragon, he focused his attention back on the Fox in the cave. He wondered why she couldn't tap into her powers as well as Youko could. Surely the Fox trained her? But she did seem to be from somewhere different. Maybe that explained why she was unable to use her powers. She must have grown up in a human village somewhere. But he knew for a fact that the area couldn't have been anywhere around here. As far as he knew, there was no one who wore such clothing like that except Inuyashas' wench, Kagome. Though even she now wore the garb of the priestess' now that she was staying here in this time.

Sesshomaru felt his eyes widen as the thought hit him. 'Of course! Why didn't I think about it before? That must be where she's from. She's from the priestess' time. But the bone eaters well hasn't worked since it brought the girl back to this time. So how is it that this Fox got here?' He stared at the tree in front of him, pondering these thoughts when Jaken finally stumbled back into the clearing, weaving to and fro from the knot on his head from the rock from earlier and the large pile of wood he had gathered. "I've got the wood you asked for My Lord. This lowly servant will take it into the cave as you asked," Jaken said in an unsteady voice as he weaved into the cave.

Sesshomaru then found himself biting back a chuckle as he heard the Fox yell out "Who the FUCK is there? Be forewarned, I'm armed and know how to use it! Just because I can't see doesn't mean I won't kick your fucking ass!" This was followed not moments later by "How dare you talk to me that way wench! Do you have any idea who you're talking to? I was sent here by My Lord Sesshomaru to bring you some wood for fire, you ungrateful human! Be glad that I don't kill you here and now for your insolence!" Sesshomaru opened both eyes and looked into the cave, his full demon Inu eyes easily piercing the darkness of the cave and able to see every detail, including the red that was seeping onto the Foxs' face as her anger rose. "Oh, really, you dying cat? You'll soon find out otherwise!"

Sesshomaru watched as the girl used Jaken's shrill voice to locate him, even amongst the echoing in the cave. She jumped forward, startling Jaken into dropping the load of wood he had found as Jaken could only see well enough to see a few inches in front of his face, and grabbed one of the pieces of wood and sending it sailing to the Kappa's head. Surprisingly, she nailed it perfectly, even though she couldn't see and didn't have the faintest idea of how tall he was. The blow sent Jaken flying through the air and he saw her smirk as she heard the thud of flesh hitting to rock wall of the cave. He arched a brow in surprise as she leapt forward in the dark to where she heard the distinctive "thud" and followed up her original blow with a sweeping kick, nailing Jaken square in the temple and sending him skidding out of the cave to land in an ungraceful heap at Sesshomarus' side.

Sesshomaru found himself fighting down a smile at this rather amusing turn of events. He had expected her to react that way a bit, but not to the extent that she had taken it to. He continued to watch as she felt around for the wood that was dropped and began situating it in the dark before pulling out that strange flame of hers and using it put flames to the wood. His attention was diverted when Jaken regained consciousness and looked around confused. Moments later, his confusion was replaced with rage as he jumped to his feet and shrieking loudly at the human in the cave. He looked around for his staff of heads, only to find himself planted face first into the dirt by the lower end of his staff by none other than Sesshomaru.

"Jaken. You will stop that unnecessary squawking right now, or I will disembowel you. Am I understood? And you will leave the half-breed Fox alone." "H-h-half-b-b-b-breed, My Lord?" Jaken squawked out from his crater around the dirt in his mouth. "Jaken, are you really that obtuse that you couldn't see that? I know that your sense of smell is inferior but this Sesshomaru shouldn't have to point out the obvious to you." "S-s-sorry, My Lord! I will endeavor to do better My Lord!" Jaken graveled, though Sesshomaru was sure that he hadn't quite grasped what was said. Sesshomaru released the two-headed staff, and in turn released him from his dirt crater.

"So you're the one who sent that dying cat in here," Sesshomaru heard. "Dying cat! Why you-!" Jaken started only to have a pebble flicked with precise aim at his head again, again knocking him momentarily unconscious. Lynn looked down at the motionless green blob in front of her. She stood there watching him for a moment before returning her gaze to the man before her. Eyeing him, she narrowed her eyes in slight anger at him for destroying two things precious to her. "Why are you helping me? It's obvious that you dislike people in general. So why bring me here? Why help me? Especially after you attacked me." "Hn," was the only reply she received. In a huff, and because the fire was climbing its way down the stick she was holding and getting closer and closer to her hand, she turned and walked back into the cave. She tossed the stick into the fire pile and laid down and made herself comfortable close, but not too close, and closed her eyes, cursing internally at her current predicament.

Sesshomaru smirked as he watched the Fox for a moment before Jaken distracted him by waking up and moaning and rubbing his head. He turned his head a bit at hearing some muffled snorts coming from Ah-Un that he could tell were laughs at the Kappa's expense. Jaken heard this too and whipped his head around and glared at the dragon who looked away innocently and pretended that nothing had just happened. "You ungrateful beast! How dare you laugh at my pain! Why I'll-"

"Jaken! Silence yourself before this Sesshomaru silences you with my poison." Ah-Un chortled again as Jaken apologized quickly and started groveling again before growing quiet. A little while later Jaken hesitantly approached his Lord. He didn't say anything but just stood there as if he was waiting for permission to speak. He stood fidgeting for so long that Sesshomaru finally got annoyed with his presence and barked out at him. "Speak, Jaken, or this Sesshomaru will take off your head!" Sesshomaru of course probably wouldn't do that because he was so loyal. Probably. But he was rather annoying with Jaken acting timid when he thought he was about to die.

"I-I-I'm sorry, M-m-my Lord. This lowly servant was merely wondering if needed anything for the night." Narrowing his eyes, Sesshomaru merely turned away and focused on the darkness in the trees. "No, Jaken. I need nothing from you. If you are tired then rest. We're leaving in the morning." "Y-yes, My Lord! And the…Fox, My Lord?" Jaken asked bravely and squeaked when Sesshomaru fixed him with a cold glare. "Not that it's any of your concern, _Jaken_, but she can fend for herself tomorrow. We will be returning to the castle on the morrow. You know as well as I that mating season is coming up and we have been chosen to host that abominable mating ball this season. Likely so those inept Lords can shove their eligible daughters off on me. Which reminds me, Jaken. You will see to the preparations for the insipid ball. As well as order a new kimono for Rin."

"Yes, My Lord! Is there anything else My Lord would like for me to do upon returning to the castle?" Sesshomaru thought about it for a few seconds before closing his eyes and sighing in his mind. "I suppose we'll need to invite that half-breed and his rag tag pack, as I'm sure Rin wouldn't be happy unless she could be around someone she knows at the ball. And see if you can track down the kit. I'm sure the half-breed and his wench will want him to attend as well. He is getting to that age that he'll be hitting his heat cycle soon. Make sure that you have adequate guards escort them at the appropriate time." "Yes, My Lord," Jaken murmured and bowed, waiting for his dismissal.

Sesshomaru waved him away and closed his eyes, preparing to settle down for the night by extending his senses and letting them scan for any danger. Not smelling, hearing or sensing anything, he let himself fall into a light sleep, his ears twitching a bit at Jaken and Ah-Un settling down to rest. Once they were settled, he fell into slumber, asleep enough to get enough rest, though he didn't need it, but light enough that he could wake a moment's notice.

The next morning Lynn woke and stretched as she walked out of the cave. Frowning, she looked around. She didn't see that green blob or the hot male anywhere. "Nice of you to leave and not tell me anything, asshole," she muttered. She started to walk forward but stopped when she felt a shiver go up her spine. Someone was watching her again. She turned in circles as she tried to locate the source. At first she didn't see anything, but a flash of red and green caught her eyes and she found herself slightly mesmerized by the being before her. 'Now what?' she asked herself as the person stepped forward. 'Wow…he's…'


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ***squeals* Holy God! I wasn't expecting this! Like, within a day, I have quite a few people following the story, making me their favorite author, and even one comment! And you guys like it! I seriously appreciate the fact that you guys like it so much. I am writing this story for my friends' belated birthday present, so I hadn't expected anyone but her to read, but I really appreciate all the support! I don't know how many chapters I'll write, but I hope you'll follow till the end! FYI this story isn't a crossover. When you read this chapter, you'll see why I said that. I'm merely borrowing his character only for my story. And I don't own Inuyasha or Sesshomaru. I would love it if I did. Nor do I make any money from this story. The only things I own is Lynn and the story plot lol. Love you guys!

P.S.-I sorry. I'm not sure if Sesshomaru will make it into this chapter or the next couple of ones. If he does, it'll be a surprise for you guys I guess! XD

Angel-Of-Life1990-Thanks for your awesome comment!

Chapter 2:

_Previously: Someone was watching her again. She turned in circles as she tried to locate the source. At first she didn't see anything, but a flash of red and green caught her eyes and she found herself slightly mesmerized by the being before her. 'Now what?' she asked herself as the person stepped forward. 'Wow…he's…'_

'Hot!' She thought to herself as she watched the normal looking red headed man with green eyes step out of the shadows. "Who the hell are you?" Lynn said, masking her attraction to the obvious human before her. At least she hoped he was human. Sesshomaru had certainly seemed to be human, but she highly doubted he was. Really now, Sesshomaru was drop dead gorgeous. This human looked just as drop dead gorgeous. There was no way he could be human too and look as gorgeous as Sesshomaru.

"Hm. Your aura feels the same. But you look different and I imagine you smell different as well. Without transforming, I won't be able to tell. Tell me, girl. What is your name?" Lynn scowled at him, narrowing her eyes. "Why the hell should I give you mine when you haven't given me yours, ass wipe?" The man before her frowned briefly at her language, but then smiled and placed a hand across his chest over his heart and bowing at the waist. "Of course. Forgive me, dear lady. I seem to have forgotten my manners. You did ask me my name first. My human name is Shuichi Minamino. My demon name is Youko Kurama, of the Silver Fox clan. You may call me whatever you wish."

Lynn eyed him warily as he stood up straight again still smiling. 'So he's a demon. Figures.' "My name is Johnnie-Lynn Carter. Although my friends usually just call me Lynn." "Lynn is a lovely name. Might I ask why you are all alone?" Kurama asked, genuinely curious. Sighing softly, Lynn reached into her back pocket for her cigarettes, figuring as long as he was talking that he probably wasn't going to attack her. She frowned as she eyed the last few cigarettes she had in her pack as she answered, "I couldn't tell you for certain, but I believe I'm all alone here because somehow I was transported through time-though I have no idea where I am or what time frame this is."

Kurama blinked. 'She doesn't seem to know who she is…' he thought to himself. "Tell me…may I call you Lynn?" he asked. At her nod, he continued, wondering what she was doing as she took a small stick from the weird pack in her hand and then used some odd flint to light it. "I know this may seem a little too personal, Lynn, but would you mind telling me how old you are?" "Twenty-three. What the hell is it to you?"

Kurama merely smiled, brushing his blood red hair over his shoulder once sudden wind stopped blowing it into his face. "I promise you, there is a legitimate reason I asked. Tell me. Has anything…odd happened to you? Specifically at about…five human years of age?" "Odd? Odd how?" she asked, skepticism in her voice. "Please just answer the question, Lynn." Sighing, Lynn inhaled on her cigarette, mourning the fact that she was almost done with it and she had to conserve what was left. "No. As far as I know of, nothing odd has happened to me when I was younger. Things only got odd yesterday, when I woke up here."

"Please. Explain," Kurama said, walking towards a tree and sitting beneath the shade. Lynn narrowed her eyes again, but decided she could trust him. For now. Even with her temporary trust and her slight attraction to him, she chose to sit in the shade under a tree a good distance from him. "There's not much to tell. I was just hanging out in a field like the one not too far from here-or at least I don't think it's too far from here…that jackass poisoned me I think- to calm down and mellow out. Yesterday was just an odd day for me. I was hanging out there and I guess I calmed down a bit too much because I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was here. Where ever _here _is."

Lynn stubbed out her now fully smoked cigarette, bracing an elbow against her leg and using her hand to prop up her chin, blowing out a stream of smoke. "When I woke, I somehow knew that I wasn't at home. I mean, it looked the same, but it didn't. So I decided I had better have a look around. It's always better to know your surroundings I figure. I was just about to walk into the forest when I heard the bushes next to me rustling. I thought that it was a rabbit or fox or something that got stuck. Apparently, I was mistaken. I haven't the slightest idea what it was. I assume it was a demon, but I couldn't tell you what kind."

"Demon? Can you give details?" Kurama asked, listening intently and quietly calculating. Shrugging, Lynn continued. "It was short. Waist high on me. Ugly too. Like a puke green color. And it had several large gashes on it that looked to be spewing puss. It smelled awful. And I don't think it was very intelligent. I asked it a question and it didn't even answer or try to. But I think it understood me enough to think it had an advantage over me."

"Really? Do tell," Kurama urged, scooting forward a bit as he was getting interested in her story. "I take it you don't believe I could have handled myself." The look on his face more or less proved it. She smirked before continuing. "Of course, the first thing I did was try to figure out if it was going to attack or not. So when it did I was prepared. I jumped out of the way quickly, though I went higher than I should have somehow. And I didn't break my neck doing it, which is odd in and of itself," she said, looking up at the tree tops, a thoughtful look on her face.

"At any rate, I waited a moment to see what it would do and sure enough, it attacked me again. I whipped out my Warrier and attacked it. I waited till it got closer as the blade isn't like a sword blade and punched it straight in the forehead, leaving several holes in its head. It stunned it-"

"Wait," Kurama said, interrupting her. "I'm sorry, dear. Two things. What is this 'Warrier' you speak of? And how exactly did you leave holes in its head…?" he questioned curiously. "You don't…? Never mind. I forget I'm not at home where it's somewhat common knowledge what a Warrier is." She reached under her shirt and drew her Warrier, holding it out to show him. "This is called the Warrier Spike Knife. It's pretty good for close quarters combat. The handle was made where you could wrap your fingers around it through these two holes here and keep a good grip on it. The spikes on the knuckle guard are what put the holes in its head."

"Interesting weapon. I've never seen the like before. You used this against a demon? And won?" he asked, incredulously. "Yep!" she said proudly, before sheathing her weapon again. "So anyway, the blow to the head momentarily stunned it. I don't think it liked that I can handle myself in a fight cause it attacked again. This time I managed to use my blade to slash it across the chest. Before it could recover from its shock, I flew forward in another _surprisingly _graceful move for me and sent a kick to its head. I nailed it right on the temple and used its momentary loss of focus to drive my blade straight through its chest and to its heart. Thus killing it."

She eyed Kurama, wondering what the thoughtful look on his face was all about. 'Hmm,' Kurama thought. 'That actually explains what happened to that demon that I came across. I had wondered what could have caused such wounds but leave no evidence.' "I see. Interesting. I wondered what had happened to that demon that I came across. It was a swamp demon. It has intelligence, though its level is considerably lower than mine or humans', or even a half demons. Those wounds that it had that you said was oozing puss were natural wounds, the puss like substance was more like an acid. You're lucky that you didn't get touched by it."

'Nice to know that now,' she thought, bemused. "Anything else happen?" Kurama asked, his mind still mulling over the fight. Nodding, she stretched a bit before settling down again. "Yeah. Shortly after, someone else -who I'm sure was a human looking demon- came up. Or more like I think he was there the whole time that I was fighting that demon. When I figured out that there was still someone watching me, I called out, making him come out of hiding. He was a rather tall demon/man, now that I think about it. Even taller than me, with or without these boots," she said, lifting a booted foot and wiggling it. "He looked a hell of a lot better than that _thing_ from the swamp. He almost looked like an elf or fairy. He had really long, pretty, silver hair. His ears were pointed and he was wearing strange clothes. Though I suppose that mine are stranger than his or yours."

She eyed Kurama's clothes, thinking that the light colored, Chinese looking outfit with yellow plane and blue trim that went to his ankles suited him (the one he wore through the rest of the Dark Tournament). He also had a long sleeved white shirt under it, with a blue sash tied around his waist, white pants and blue shoes that matched the trim. "Anyway, he also had these weird markings that looked like tattoos on his face. Two magenta stripes over his eyelids, purple stripes, two on each cheek, and a blue crescent moon on his forehead. He seemed rather regal-"

She stopped suddenly as she heard Kurama laughing. "What's so damn funny?" she asked, starting to get angry. "Oh," Kurama said, trying to control his laughter. "It's not at you, Lynn. You just caught me by surprise with your description. If I didn't know any better, I would say that you just ran into the infamous Lord of the Western Lands, Lord Sesshomaru. Which can't be possible, as he doesn't tolerate very many people. From what I've heard, there's only a small group of people who he will willingly tolerate. Which is a surprise really, given what the group is consisted of."

"Well, I don't know if he was this Lord of the Western Lands that you were referring to, but he did refer to himself as 'this Sesshomaru' quite a bit." She saw the look of incredulity on his face and tilted her head to the side a bit out of curiosity. "What?" she asked. "You came across THE Lord Sesshomaru, and you're still standing? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you are more than capable of handling yourself, at least with humans or lower class demons, but how in the world did you manage to not be killed by the Western Lord? He has very little tolerance for demons, even less so for humans or half-breeds."

Lynn frowned. 'That word again. What the hell is that supposed to mean?' "You're the second person I've heard say that. What the hell does it mean?" "What does what mean? Half-breed?" At her nod, he smiled a bit. "I'm sorry. I forgot that you wouldn't understand. Half-breed is basically a slur against a…lower class we'll say. You know that there are humans, and now you know what demons are. Of course, there are many, many demons, in all kinds of different shapes, sizes, colors, abilities. Some of them, like Lord Sesshomaru, look similar to humans. Others, look like the one you killed."

"You look more human than he did," Lynn observed, more to herself than to him. Smiling, he nodded. "Yes, well, I would. But I'll explain why in a minute. As I was saying, you know of humans and demons. But it must not make sense to you what a half-breed is. Let me see. How can I put this that will make the most sense," he murmured, looking up at the tree top, tapping a finger to his chin as he thought.

"Ah!" he said suddenly. "You know of different types of dogs, correct?" When she nodded he continued. "You are familiar with mixing breeds, I assume." She nodded again. "Well a half-breed is rather like that. Two breeds mixing into one. Think of humans and demons like breeds. Humans breeding with humans are basically staying within the breed of humans. Unless of course you intermarry, which from what I understand causes defects in the infants born of those unions. Demons breeding with demons are similar. However, in demon culture, interbreeding doesn't cause the same problems that it does for humans. The concept of creating stronger young was a sound idea for humans; however, intermarrying was not the way. It is good for demons though. Now, think of demons and humans breeding."

He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts while giving her a chance to digest all the new information. "It is possible to conceive between humans and demons. The only problem is that the resulting child is rather…unpredictable." "Unpredictable?" "Of sorts. The children of these unions are called half-breeds, because they were born of humans and demons. It is looked down upon because of the unpredictability of the children. Some half-breeds can control their demon sides very well. Others cannot. That is the unpredictable part; which ones can and which ones cannot. Some half-breeds can control their demon side for a long time. Others can control it for only a short time. There aren't very many known who can control it for the entirety of their life. But that's not to say that there aren't any. I'm quite sure there's a few that like to stay in hiding because of the hate between humans and demons, as they are not accepted by either breed."

"So what does that make you?" Lynn asked, curiously. "Me? Oh, well mine is a special case. Technically, I would be called a half-breed. But that's not actually what I am. I was born a demon. However, and I'll explain the details later, I was killed. But I wasn't ready to die yet, so I sent my soul elsewhere until I could recover my strength. Ironically, my soul went to that of an unborn child. A _human _child. Hence, my current appearance. Of course, at my age now, I can willingly go back and forth between my human and demon form. I couldn't when I was a human child. Five years old is when I was first able to communicate with Youko. At the age of ten I could use some of my former powers. But it wasn't until I was about fifteen that I was able to use the full extent of my powers. But at that point I still couldn't turn into my youko form. That didn't happen till my late twenties."

"Ok, so, why was Sesshomaru calling me that?" Laughing a bit, he rubbed the back of his head. "That's a bit complicated. If I am correct, your situation is rather like mine. But we'll get to that in a minute. I am rather curious, now that you understand a little bit more about Lord Sesshomaru and half-breeds, how you managed to survive your encounter with him."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Other than being a possible psychopath, he wasn't all that bad. He even took me to a cave, for whatever reason." "Did he? Tell me what happened." "Well, as I was saying, at first the only thing he was doing was calling me half-breed, oh and Fox, for whatever reason. But apparently I must have insulted the poor wittle baby," she said, mocking Sesshomaru a bit. Kurama winced a bit at the comment, glad that said demon Lord wasn't around. Smirking, she continued, "Sorry. Couldn't resist mocking him a bit, even though he was rather nice looking. Anyway, I must have insulted him because he attacked me. But again I had some fluke of gracefulness and managed to dodge him and I'm kinda glad I did. I have a feeling that his hand glowing green and hissing wasn't a good thing."

Kurama's eyes widened. "You dodged his poison claw?!" he asked, incredulously. "Yes. I didn't see him moving towards me but I somehow was able to see his hand moving, though I'm sure it was faster than what is normal. I jumped back and he didn't seem happy about that because he growled. Then he stopped for some reason, but I'm sure he was just calculating his next move since I could apparently dodge him in close combat. I took the time he was being still to light up a cigarette, though I'm sure it must not have smelled good with how his nose scrunched up. He had asked me a question about where I was from beforehand but when I refused to answer him he flashed some green glowing whip thing and melted my cigarette. Course that only pissed me off and made me want to kill him."

Lynn stopped and chuckled at the look on Kurama's face. "Oh, don't worry. He's not dead. Or is it me you were worried about?" Kurama opened and closed his mouth, not sure how much of this outlandish story he believed. But when he didn't offer up an answer she continued her story. "Anyway, I pulled out my collapsible shuriken and hurled it at him, but of course, he used that damned whip thing and tossed it aside. I don't know what the hell that thing was made of, but whatever it was, it completely melted my shuriken. And after that I think I blacked out because I don't remember much. I have flashes of him dodging vines and plants, but I don't remember much else. I must have fallen asleep or he somehow knocked me out one, because when I woke up, it was dark and somehow ended up this cave."

'If what she says is true, that would explain why the ground looked that way. Not to mention the plants were agitated. She must be Feara. There's no way she's just an ordinary half-breed,' Kurama mused to himself, absorbing that information. "After that, he apparently sent some green toad looking thing into the cave with some firewood. It tried to attack me as well but I sent his ass flying out of the cave. Once I had started a fire, I went outside to see what exactly that dying cat was only to come across Sesshomaru. The green one didn't seem to take too kindly to me for not addressing him as 'Lord Sesshomaru.' Then again, why should I when he isn't a Lord of me? I had asked him why he helped me after he had just tried to kill me, but he didn't answer. So I left to go back in the cave and fell asleep. When I woke up, he was gone and you were here. So that's that."

Kurama was silent for a few moments, trying to digest this information. "I…am not entirely sure why Lord Sesshomaru decided to spare you life, though I can probably tell you what happened when you blacked out." "Really? How? Where you there?" "No, no, of course not. I sensed an aura that I recognized but hadn't felt in years. So I came to check it out. And what I found initially only caused a lot of questions to fly through my brain. But hearing your story, a little of it is starting to make sense."

"Ok…so what doesn't make sense?" "Well…for instance, why I can feel that you're half-demon, but I can't feel the aura I did before. The aura before was more pure, more Silver Fox than it was anything else. And if you are who I think you are, there shouldn't be any reason why you don't have control over your powers yet. Like I said before, I could talk to Youko at five, gradually gained my powers back after that. It doesn't make any sense why yours didn't, unless there was some kind of ward or…" Kurama trailed off, a new thought making its way into his thought process.

"Or what?" Lynn asked, confused but curious. "Or there are no demons where you came from. If there are no demons, I imagine that your Youko didn't feel the need to reveal itself as of yet. Though I am curious as to why it wouldn't appear even with all that. Hmm. Lynn, dear, do excuse me for a minute. I want to see something." "Ok," she said and laid back, yawning a bit. She watched him as he walked away, wondering where he was going and why. Shrugging to herself as he disappeared into the forest, she pulled out her cigarettes and mournfully looked at them. There was only four left. She was gonna have a nic fit soon it seemed.

Sighing, she put them back into her pocket, waiting until she really, _really _needed one to smoke another. Leaning back against the tree and wiggling to get comfortable, she tried to remember what had happened after Sesshomaru melted her shuriken. For the life of her, she couldn't remember anything. She remembered flashes of things she couldn't understand. But then again, nothing really made sense since she got here.

Kurama decided to go back to where the fight between Lynn, Lord Sesshomaru and the swamp demon occurred, deciding that if he wanted to know what happened between her and Sesshomaru, he had a better chance of finding out from the plants. When he had passed through earlier, the plants answered his questions, but he didn't think it necessary at the time to get the actual images from them. He took them at their word, though it seemed they couldn't verbally tell him all that he needed to know. So he decided that he would transform into his demon form. He could gather visions in human form but they were clearer in his demon form.

He let his control over his demon go, and in a bright flash of white, instead of the red haired, green eyed Shuichi, there stood a noticeably taller silver haired, golden eyed, Youko Kurama. He had cute silver, fuzzy, fox ears on top of his head and a tail at his lower back. His clothes also changed with him, into white shoes, pants, and sleeveless yukata. He smiled as the voices of all the plants in the area spoke to him, each of them a chorus of different voices. "Hello, dear ones. I am very sorry for the gore that you had to see yesterday. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that it won't happen again." He brushed his fingers over the nearest bushes to calm them.

Once they were a bit calmer, he continued. "I need a favor from you, my sweet plants. Please show me all the events of yesterday with the girl and her fight. I need to see what happened." He closed his eyes and let the images flow. At first all he saw was her lying in the field. She was sleeping peacefully until she suddenly woke and sat up, looking around. He watched as she moved towards the forest, and saw the fight with the swamp demon. He smirked to himself as it played out exactly as she had said; only she seemed to not put much faith in her abilities. He watched her easily defeat the demon, only to tense shortly after and demand whoever was watching her to come out.

He frowned when he saw Lord Sesshomaru. He didn't want to call the girl a liar, but he hadn't really believed her until now. He watched the altercation between them and, his shock, found that she wasn't lying at all, though she downplayed some of it. His mouth dropped open as he watched the fight carry on, happening just as she had described. Except now he saw what happened after she blacked out. Anger had triggered her Youko and he watched in shock as the girl transformed from a human to her demon form. 'Feara! I don't believe it!' he muttered in shock. He hadn't seen her for years, not since she was born.

He watched her unconsciously tap into her powers and use the surrounding plants to attack Sesshomaru. He watched even more fascinated as even the most docile of the plants at the edge of the forest suddenly became rather hostile against Lord Sesshomaru. That only happened for him if he was extremely angry. And it was hard to do that. She must have really liked her 'shuriken' as she had called it. He watched as the look on Lord Sesshomaru's face suddenly gained what appeared to be a decision and he darted forward, dodging the plant life, and invading Feara's personal space, before holding her arms down and covering her mouth and nose with his hand, and saw green fumes around his hand.

Arching a brow, he muttered softly, "Ah. That explains how she ended up in a cave." Keeping his eyes closed, he slowly followed the trail that Lord Sesshomaru had taken but stopped before he reached the clearing with Lynn in it. He wasn't sure how she'd take to him being in his demon form. Honestly, his demon form couldn't care less. But the human side of him cared greatly. And she hadn't the slightest idea of who she was. "Kami, help me," he said softly. "I haven't the faintest idea of what to do. I highly doubt that she'll believe me even if I told her."

His eyes widened slightly as a thought hit him. "Unless I can get her to go into her demon form without blacking out. I'll have to try something." Sighing softly, an idea forming in his cunning mind, he took control over his youkai and reverted back into a human. Still calculating, he walked back out into the clearing around the cave to find Lynn pouting at a strange box that said Marlboro NXT, whatever that was. "Is there something wrong, dear?" he asked quietly, chuckling as she jumped. Looking up, she blushed slightly at being caught off guard. "Nothing you can help with. I doubt that they have cigarettes in this time." "That box is ciga…what?" "Cigarettes. And no." She opened the box and took out one cancer stick as some liked to call it and held it up. "This is a cigarette. A mentholated cigarette, to be exact."

"And it is made of what, may I ask?" "It's pretty much a plant called tobacco wrapped in paper with a filter of some sort. Mentholated just means minty I guess. That's what it tastes like anyway." "Ah, tobacco. I'm sure I can help you there. Though the paper and filter you speak of…I'm not so certain. The few people I've seen who partake in that particular…activity… usually smoke it in wooden pipes." She scrunched her nose up at that thought. "I bet that it is pretty strong too." "I wouldn't know, I'm sorry to say. I don't care much for that particular activity."

"It's something of a bad habit, but it calms the nerves. I should probably use this time to break that habit, but I'm more likely to kill somebody without it," she said, laughing a bit. "Really?" he asked, laughing with her. "It's an addiction. A bad one. Kind of like drinking alcohol. I haven't had any in a while, but I drink it as well. Though that won't make me kill. Unfortunately, I only have four left, and I'm trying not to smoke them unless I really need one." Kurama merely smiled, amused by her need of something so small.

Then he remembered that he needed to inform her of who she was, and his smile faded, not sure how she was going to take it. He heaved a sigh, rubbing the back of his head. "Lynn, there is something we need to speak of." "Oh? What is it?" Kurama looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. Lynn saw this and frowned a bit. "What's the matter?" "It's…a difficult subject. But I suppose I had better start from when I left. You remember me telling you I was half demon?" She nodded, a confused look coming across her face. "Well, I transformed into Youko, to better communicate with the plant life. I can, of course, do so while in human form, but its all the more clearer in my Youko form. I went back to where you fought Sesshomaru and had them show me exactly what happened."

Her eyes narrowed at him, feeling as if he was accusing her of lying. "Wait a God damned minute. Are you saying that you thought I lied to you? What the hell reason would I have to lie about it?!" she nearly shouted. "No, no," he said frantically, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "I was by no means trying to call you a liar, my dear. I simply wanted to understand more of what happened. And the plants were able to show me what happened when you blacked out." When she didn't look as if she were about to rip his head off, he continued, albeit warily.

"They showed me the fight between you and that swamp demon, which, may I say, you fought very well, despite your downplaying it." He merely smiled at her flabbergasted look. "However, I must say, Lord Sesshomaru's reaction to you was rather curious. As much as he seemed to be angry at your lack of respect of his person, which I know you knew nothing of at the time, he also seemed to be rather…what's the word…intrigued. Yes! Intrigued. I haven't the faintest idea of why he would be, unless it's your rather spiritedness. I do believe he must have been holding back on you though. He was rather…tame…to put it nicely. It was rather unexpected for him to knock you out after you lost control of your Youkai instead of killing you. Even more unexpected for him to carry you here. Though I imagine he must have figured out that you were unaware of your condition."

"And what is my condition?" she asked, a little annoyed that he didn't explain her black out further. Sighing softly, he rubbed his face gently, gathering his thoughts. This was going to be hard to explain. "There is much to tell, Lynn. But the most important thing that you need to know is…you're not alone here. I saw what happened when you fought Lord Sesshomaru. Your Youkai apparently comes out when you go into a rage, which I'm assuming either you didn't do much where you came from or your Youkai didn't feel desperately threatened by whomever you were angry at. I know your Youkai. I know you. You are…my cousin."

She looked at him, dumbfounded. "Say what?" "You're my cousin." She jumped up and backed away from him. "Wow, wow, wow. Slow the fuck down. You're trying to tell me that you're related to me? Now wait a minute. I can kinda see where you would think that I'm half-human, half-demon. I can see that. But there is no way in hell that I'm related to you. Don't get me wrong. You're a nice demon. A cute demon. But there is no way, absolutely NO WAY you are related to me. I was born in another time, another place. I was born from a human woman. And as far as I knew, a human man. Course it was possible either of them could have been a demon and maybe were suppressing my demon side to help me fit in, but either way, they would have told me. There is no way."

"Lynn, I swear to you, I am not lying," he said, taking a step towards her but stopped when she took several back. "Lynn, do you remember what I said earlier? About my soul being transplanted into a human child?" At her skeptical look, he elaborated. "I am a thief by nature, attracted to shiny, valuable, things. Cunning and intelligent as they come. But I am no liar. I was killed during a failed theft. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with such things. But I was off that day. I wasn't ready to die yet, so I sent my soul elsewhere, and it ended up in an unborn human child. Originally, when I regained my memories of what happened, I had intended to return back to my clan. Our clan. But I didn't expect that I would be loved by a human. Of course, I had never revealed who I was to her. That was what kept me there, in human form. I also find that staying in human form around humans makes them feel…safer."

When she placed herself in the shade and got a little comfortable, he smiled softly, hoping he was getting through to her. "When my mother died from old age, I returned to my clan. My real parents, unfortunately, weren't alive anymore when I returned. My aunt, my _real _aunt, however, was. She was pregnant at the time. She was rather beautiful, my uncle, just as handsome as any of our clan. Her name was Youko Keera. She was one of the rare ones to be born with pink eyes instead of golden. Most of our clan is golden. Very few have any other colors. Even fewer have pink. She did, however, have silver hair like most of the clan. The odd few had different hues. Her husband is of course the classic Silver Fox. Silver hair and golden eyes. Course, the males very rarely come out anything but. The females tend to have the odd gene now and then, especially if they interbreed with other Youkai. His name was Youko Fury. When the child was born, they named her Feara. A combination of their two names. The child was beautiful. But…something happened. Our clan was attacked, by a dark haired half-breed named Naraku. A good majority managed to escape but there were some who absorbed, presumably. I tried to get as many of our clan out as I could, but Uncle Fury charged me with looking after Aunt Keera and Feara. Uncle was, in a sense, our leader. Aunt Keera, being that she was mated to him, was the co-ruler. And she charged me with taking Feara and leaving. I don't know what happened to Uncle during the fight, he wouldn't tell me much when I found him afterwards, but…Aunt Keera was killed right in front of me."

Kurama looked away, the memory bothering him even though it happened a long time ago. The pain on his face was enough to confuse Lynn further. "Did you escape with the girl?" Kurama closed his eyes in pain. "No," he said quietly. "I was attacked when I tried to flee with Feara. I was badly wounded, but I kept going. But a wind sorceress by the name of Kagura used her wind to knock me off my feet, as well as knocking Feara out of my arms. Before I could reach her, she used her wind blades and killed her right before my eyes." He swallowed before he could continue. Even though she was standing right in front of him, he couldn't control the pain raging through him at her death.

Lynn covered her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. She didn't know Kurama from a hole in the ground, but for some reason, she believed his story. The pain on his face was just too real for him to be making it up. "Using what was left of my strength at the time, I took Feara and fled. Since I was wounded, they assumed that I would die shortly anyway. I found a safe place, or as safe as possible, and all the power that I could and took Feara's soul. I took it and I sent it as far away as possible, to be reborn elsewhere. But with my power so low and most of it diverted to try to heal my wound, even with me trying to push it into transporting Feara's soul, I messed up. I did send her soul far away, but I hadn't realized until after I sent it away that I completely sent it away. Apparently to another time, it seems. I thought…I thought that I had killed her completely. And I hated myself for the longest time. It wasn't until I saw what happened between you and Lord Sesshomaru that I understood what happened."

Kurama looked back at Lynn, looking into her eyes, pleading with her to believe him. "Lynn. I know there's a lot that you do not understand, and I know it is disorienting and confusing for you right now, being so far away from what you've known, but please believe me when I say that you are my cousin. You are Feara."

A/N: So how was it? Surprised by Kurama? Me too lol. Not really. Ha. No, Lynn thought it would be pretty cool to be a cousin of Kurama's. I hopefully kept Kurama in character as much as possible. He is the only one from Yu Yu that I will be using. I think. As far as I know anyway. I may consider using others. Maybe. Sesshomaru may or may not be making an appearance in the next chapter. It may be the next. There's still the mating ball remember? And this is Lynn's birthday present. So yea. There will be more chapters. And there will be smex. Just not yet. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but reviews fuel the plot bunnies XD. –Naomi U.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Chapter three! Woot woot! I am really glad that I've had so many people follow/favorite this story or me or both. But it's even better that I keep getting awesome comments. Thank you Angel, for your comments. I really appreciate them and they make me want to write more. I'm glad that everyone likes my story so far. I hope it gets even better. I am trying my best to keep Kurama and Sesshomaru in character as much as possible, though I'm sure there'll be times when they won't be lol. One would think that almost 12 pages would be longer. But here's things to come: Kurama takes Lynn back to the Silver Clan, or what's left of them; she meets her demon father; she starts training with her powers and learning how to go into her demon form without blacking out; she has a nic fit at some point; the Mating Ball is coming up; Sesshomaru begins to question his feelings; and the rest you'll find out sooner or later. Don't want to spoil the fun just yet. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Reviews fuel the plot bunnies!

_Previously: Kurama looked back at Lynn, looking into her eyes, pleading with her to believe him. "Lynn. I know there's a lot that you do not understand, and I know it is disorienting and confusing for you right now, being so far away from what you've known, but please believe me when I say that you are my cousin. You are Feara."_

"What…?" she asked in shock. "You are Feara. The plants showed me your demon form. What's more, your aura even feels like hers, while you're in demon form. Not to mention you have some control over plant life, as I do. As your mother and mine were the ones related, they got their control over plants from their mother, and we got ours from them. However, I do believe that you may have other powers from your father. I'm not entirely sure. Only he would know that let alone how to access those."

Lynn just stared at him shocked. She was originally from here? There's no way…but how else would she explain the oddities that started yesterday? Or even the nightmares she'd been having ever since she could remember. Now that she thought about it, she vaguely remembered seeing someone with silver hair and ears just before she saw a black haired woman flick her fan and send weird looking blades at her. And there was no way her parents could have known. If she had shown any signs of weird powers, they'd have told her. And the random voices she heard off and on she never told her parents about. She had thought at the time that they were spirits talking to her. But if she could control plants, as Kurama said, then it made sense that they could talk to her as well.

"Lynn?" Kurama questioned quietly when she remained silent for a while. When she didn't answer, he slowly walked closer to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and shaking her a bit. "Lynn?" "I don't believe it…" she said so softly he almost missed it. "Please. Come with me, Lynn, and I will take you to your father."

She looked up at him sharply. "My…father…?" "Yes. He can help you. He can also confirm all that I have told you. I promise you that everything will be ok." Lynn looked up into his eyes, surprised at the sincerity that she saw there. Somehow she knew that he wasn't above lying to get what he wanted. However, her instincts where telling her to trust him, and her instincts where never wrong. "All right," she said softly, smiling a bit at him. Kurama returned the smile and briefly hugged her to him before grasping her hand gently and leading her away from the clearing.

"Have you eaten yet, Lynn?" he asked, mostly to try to make conversation. "No. Actually, I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday." He gave her a confused look so she elaborated. "Noon. I haven't eaten since noon or mid-day yesterday. We call the mid-day meal lunch where I'm from." "Ah. You really must tell me all about this place that you speak of. There seems to be many things that are different." "Ok. What would you like to know?" "Hmm. Well, let's see. Are the clothes that you're wearing normal there?" "My clothes?" she asked, looking down at her clothes. "Well, for me they are. Everyone wears things they like. And they can all be different. If we are where I think we are, then usually the women wear kimonos?"

Smiling, Kurama nodded. "Yes they do. Though the quality usually depends on their station here." "Do you call this place Japan?" Lynn asked curiously. "Japan? No, I've never heard of it. We call it Nippon (I think) mostly. There are those who call it different things. Come to think of it, I will be going to the Western Lands in a couple of months for the Mating Ball. If you wish to come with me you could meet his half-breed brother, Inuyasha, and his friends. I hear tales of a human girl who says she's from another time. Perhaps she could tell you what you wish to know about here."

"That would be interesting, but I have nothing to wear. And what is a Mating Ball?" "You have no need to worry about that, dear. We will find you something. As for what the Mating Ball is, it is a ball that is held once a year to show off eligible noble demons. Of course, the lower class mate during this time as well, but the ball is specifically for nobles. The lords of the North, South, East, and West and their nobles try to pawn of their children on each other, mostly to form political alliances. Others just want the power that comes with mating a powerful lord. Of course, most of them try to pawn off their daughters onto Lord Sesshomaru, being as he is the most powerful of the four and also single with no heirs."

"Sounds awful," Lynn said, scrunching up her nose. "Indeed. It is rather distasteful. That is unfortunately how demon society works. And as heir to the Silver Clan, you can choose to go or not, though it's better if you do. Normally, it would just be Uncle Fury and I going, as he has no other heirs. I would be the next in line after you now, unless Uncle has any more children." "Your Uncle hasn't taken another wife?"

Smiling a bit, Kurama shook his head. "Your father was very much in love with your mother. Much of his heart went with her death, and I believe the rest of it went when we thought we lost you. However, I do believe seeing you for the first time in years will help heal his poor old heart." Kurama stopped walking and smiled at Lynn brightly, gesturing ahead of him, indicating a river of medium size. "It's not much, but we can stop here and catch some fish for us to eat, if you like. We may even be able to find some berries around as well. Unless you'd like to have something different?"

"What other things could we possibly have? I mean, I can fish pretty well, but I have nothing to catch them with, let alone something to catch any other creature with." "We could make spears to catch the fish with. We could use them to catch other animals as well, but I thought it'd be a little easier to catch fish in the stream, as shallow as it is." Nodding, Lynn agreed. "Well, as much as I don't like using my Warrier for such things, I suppose I could use it to make a spear with. Shouldn't be too hard." "Well, let's find you a couple of long sticks to make into spears, and then I'll go and collect firewood. But I must ask you to stay put while I go and find some. It is rather dangerous to be on your own in an unfamiliar place."

Snorting, Lynn waved him off. "Where else can I go, silly? I haven't a clue where I am, let alone where I could go to. And I'm not afraid of idiot demons…no offense…" "None taken, dear." "I'm not afraid of them. But I'll stay put. Besides, maybe I'll catch a butt load of fish by the time you get back." Chuckling, Kurama shook his head and ruffled her hair in an affectionate way, laughing outright at her scowl. "Sorry. You may not know this, but foxes, especially Silver Foxes, are very affectionate. Especially towards family and friends or those that they consider family. I hate to make you feel uncomfortable, but I have to say that you should probably get used to it. I haven't seen you since you were a baby and I'm more than likely going to spoil you rotten with attention."

Lynn contemplated that for a moment. That could be why she was always bombarded with guy friends and friends who wanted benefits. Other than her open affection for either of the two, her constant need for affection probably stemmed from her demon side. If she had one, that is. But that kind of made sense, in a weird, roundabout way. She also liked being around crowds of people even if she didn't know them, and made friends rather quickly. But she had yet to find one who truly cared for her and respected that she was independent and self confident. Most were intimidated by her self-dependence, and those very few that she had gotten close to enough that she fell in love with them, ended up breaking her heart in the end because of it. So she chose just to keep friends.

Shrugging, Lynn just smirked at him. "It's fine. But if you really are my cousin, there will be no funny business. I don't do it with relatives. That's just weird." "Funny…business…? Do it…?" Kurama questioned, confused by her slang. "Yeah, funny business. Sex. I don't do sex with relatives." "Oh, I see," he said, the confusion clearing up. "I assure you, my dear, there will be no… "funny business"… going on between the two of us. While interfamilial relations aren't uncommon in demon society, I have no intentions of starting such a thing between us."

"Yeah, I remember you saying something about that earlier. Though it's still odd, but if it doesn't cause problems if a child is born from it, I suppose it wouldn't matter. I mean you can't help who you fall for." Kurama had been looking for suitable spears while she talked but stopped and looked at her in confusion. Noticing, she laughed and elaborated. "What I mean is that you can't help who you fall in love with. I think that's probably the only reason why it's so frowned upon in human society, it causing problems with the babies. In my time, there are some incestual relationships, but there are many, many more same gender relationships than there are incestual. And neither really bothers me. I just prefer non-relational men, if you catch my drift."

"By "catching your drift", I assume you mean did I understand you. And that would be a yes. I myself haven't found someone, male or female that has interested me yet, but I don't think I'll be falling in love with any relatives. Course, there is only you and Uncle Fury left of my family. My grandparents and yours were killed in the attack by Naraku." Finding suitable sticks, he walked over to her and placed them in her hands. "Here you go, dear. See what you can make of those while I go find us some fire wood ok?"

Nodding, she sat down by the water to get started while Kurama wondered off into the forest for wood. She hummed quietly to herself for a few moments before she remembered she had her phone. "Oh! My phone! I wonder if it works," she muttered to herself, setting down her Warrier in her lap momentarily and reaching into her back pocket for her phone and ear phones. Tapping a button to see if it would turn on, she was pleasantly surprised to find that it still had at least half a battery left on it. Unfortunately, not that she expected it to, it didn't have any signal. But that was ok. Her music player didn't need signal or even internet to play her music.

Deciding that she would only listen to a few songs before cutting it off to conserve power, she placed one ear bud in her ear and turned it on to her current favorite song, Crazy Bitch by BuckCherry-her theme song, or so she was told often by her close friends. Humming to it and singing under her breath, she made the two sticks into suitable looking spears. Grinning, she sheathed her Warrier, held her phone in one hand and a spear in the other and stood up. Scrolling through her songs as Crazy Bitch was about to end for the third time, she decided to pick another one while she fished.

Choosing Mother Earth by Within Temptation, she placed her phone back into her pocket and walked over to the river stream, surprised to see quite a bit of fish. "This ought to be easy," she muttered, a smirk on her face. Carefully aiming the spear, she waited a few moments before she hurled the spear into the water, expertly snagging the fish she was aiming for. Laughing, she did a little dance with the spear and fish, before walking away and looking for something to lay it on where ants or other bugs wouldn't get on it. Frowning as she couldn't find anything, she shrugged and decided that she would just use the spear as a fish holder and jammed it into some soft dirt. Satisfied, she grabbed the other spear and continued fishing.

By the time Kurama got back with a good little bit of fire wood, Lynn caught a good little bit of fish. At first, she thought to catch more, but then she figure they probably wouldn't eat that many and it was still early in the morning. So she caught enough for them to eat now and a few more to wrap up for lunch and maybe dinner later, as she didn't know how far they had to go before they came another food source or to where ever it was that they were going. Kurama smiled as he watched Lynn dangle her feet in the river and watching the clouds above her, a spear of fish close to her. He tilted his head to the side curiously as he could hear faint noise that almost sounded like some kind of music but he couldn't place where it was coming from.

Deciding it wasn't important, he focused on Lynn. "I see you've caught plenty of fish. But don't you think that that is a bit too much?" Lynn sat up and smiled. "Well, I figured that we may not come across another food source anytime soon before we get where we're going, so I thought I should catch and cook some for the afternoon meal and dinner so that we'd have something to eat." "Ah. Thoughtful. But the clan lives only a day away from here. So we should be there by nightfall. Though we can cook the extra and find something to wrap them in. The little ones of the village love fish."

Lynn smiled. "That's fine. Just wanted to have some sort of supplies. I wish I had a water bottle though. It would be nice to have something to drink while we're walking." "If you don't mind drinking from a plant, then we'll be alright." "A plant?" Lynn asked confused. Kurama nodded and pulled out a seed, allowing some of his youkai to flow into it and made it grow into a bell shaped flower. "This is a bell flower. It can seal tight enough to hold the water in it. I can make a couple of them to hold quite a bit of water." "Neat," Lynn said, but the look on her face didn't show that she found it "neat" at all. "It is quite safe, I assure you."

Nodding, she pulled her feet from the water, being careful to avoid dirt so she wouldn't get her feet dirty, and walked over to him and grabbed some branches. "Well, let's get cooking, shall we?" she said playfully. "Of course," he answered just as playfully, setting down the wood close enough to be reached and set about helping her set the wood up in a way to help it burn better. Lynn wandered off after a moment to go find some dried grass and leaves to help kindle the fire and dumped it in the middle before pulling her lighter out and lighting it. She sat close for a few moments to see how it turned out before sitting back and putting her lighter away. "Lynn, what was that that you used to light the fire with?" Kurama asked, confusion on his face.

"Hmm? Oh, this?" she asked, pulling her lighter out of her pocket and showing it to him. At his nod, she put it back as she answered, "It's called a lighter. People use it as a portable flame. Mostly it's for cigarettes but some people use it for fires as well." "This world of yours is rather interesting. It seems that there's more and more to learn about this place." "Yes, there's lots of things to learn from there. Some of it's boring though." She picked a stick out of the pile to put the fish on. Once she found a perfect one, she sharpened it enough on one end to hold the fish and set it aside. Finding another, she repeated the process so they'd both have one and set about gutting and scaling the fish. "I don't really relish using my Warrier for this, but you gotta do what you gotta do," she muttered to herself.

Kurama merely smiled a bit and shook his head. Normally people here would just cook it and eat it, guts included. But it didn't seem that people in her time did the same. "Do you guys have such a thing as salt and pepper here?" Lynn asked suddenly, her mind still on her task. "Salt…and pepper?" "Yeah. Seasoning." "Seasoning?" "It's a type of seasoning. You know herbs and spices?" "Ah. Well, we do use different herbs to make the food taste better; however, I do not have any on my person at the moment. I am sorry. But perhaps I could help you locate some within the forest?" Kurama offered. Shaking her head, she said, "No, but thank you. That would take too long. As much as I would like it, it won't kill me to eat without it," and went back to work on the fish.

"Yes. The sooner we arrive at the village, the sooner you can meet your father. Would you like to hear more about the Silver Fox clan, or would it be alright if I asked more questions about your world?" "We could take turns asking questions if you like, though I think you pretty much explained everything about our clan already." Kurama smiled at her use of the word "our" which he took to mean that she was coming to terms with being a Youko. "Alright, well, we'll start with whatever you're curious about of our clan." "Hmm," she murmured as she continued her work. "Well, other than you and…father…do I have any more living relatives in the Silver Fox clan?"

Kurama's smile faded a bit. "Well, of course, everyone in the clan considers each other family, blood relation or not, but outside of myself and Uncle Fury, you have a few distant relatives. Mostly they are our cousins from either side of the family. And yes, some of our relatives that are mated to each other are related by blood," he said, letting her know upfront about it so that it would give her time to think about it. Kurama's eyes widened when she merely shrugged. "I have no problem with it. While it is strange, in any time or place, I have no problem with it, nor would I scorn them for it. As a matter of fact, I know of several people and am friends with quite a few who are openly gay. Can't say that I know anyone who is incestuous, but that doesn't bother me either. I'm easy to get along with because of things like that I think."

Kurama chuckled. "Indeed. People who are as understanding as you are very hard to come by. Not very many people would try to understand. They would merely scorn the relationship itself." "Yeah, well, those people are closed minded assholes who obviously have their heads stuck so far up their ass that they can't see that love is love, no matter what form it's in. Your turn by the way," she said, staking her now gutted and scaled fish on the small spear she made for roasting it and set about working on one for Kurama. Kurama correctly deduced that she meant his turn to ask a question and decided what he wanted to ask about. Considering he was confused by her last statement, he asked about it.

"Lynn, dear, I find myself at a terrible loss here. I'm not used to not understanding things, so I'm afraid that I must ask what you meant by your last statement before the 'love is love' part." "Oh? What part or the whole sentence before that in general?" "Well, I think I understand the… "asshole" part. It has something to do with the body I imagine and is being used in a derogatory way." She nodded her head at his deduction, letting him know he was correct. "I assume by "closed minded" you mean…?"

Smirking, she said, "Closed minded means to…let's see the best way to describe it…" She looked up with a finger to her chin as if looking to the sky for the words she was looking for. "Ah!" she said after a moment, dropping her hand and looking at him. "Closed minded is where a person or people are more or less set in their ways. Meaning that it's either the way that they see it, or no way at all. Basically meaning that it makes you an outsider to society because of how you think, act, behave, or in this case, love. I imagine you didn't understand the "head up their ass" part either, so I'll explain. Really it's just a figure of speech, not something that someone can really do-although now that I think about it, if there's many different demons out there, I imagine one of them probably _could _do it, though I can't imagine why one would want to-but it pretty much means to be stuck up. Kind of like how Sesshomaru acted, except he was…let's say…more civilized about it. I think. But I think you understand."

She had thought about saying "if you catch my drift" but seeing as how he wasn't used to her terminology, she thought it best to be as simple as possible. "I see. That does make more sense now that you explained what you meant. The whole thing was basically meant as a slur to those who can't accept things for what they are." Lynn smiled and nodded. "Ok, my turn." She turned back to her work as she thought for a few moments. Kurama waited patiently and was rewarded with her question after only a few moments of silence. "Is there anything that I need to know about our clan? Any special rules or powers or regulations or stuff like that? Stuff I probably should already know but don't?" (A/N: I'm not sure what exactly goes on in Kurama's Silver Fox clan, or even if he really has one, so any rules I put up are made up for this story. If you have any ideas or thoughts as to good rules, I'm open for suggestions )

"You already know that it's custom for the hierarchy of each clan of demons as well as the rulers of the separate lands are expected to go to most, if not all social functions, but there are a few key things to know. Our clan itself doesn't have very many rules itself. We have books for the history on our clan if you wish to know them. The main thing to remember, should you ever have the inclination to steal something shiny, is to not steal from the Lord of your lands. We have a treaty with our Lord to assist him if needed so that we can keep our freedom, and to steal from him, whether intentionally or on accident, is considered treason. And it will more than likely cost you your head. Right now, we are closer to the Eastern territory. However, we are part of the Western Lands. So our Lord is Lord Sesshomaru."

Lynn looked over at him sharply, surprised that she was still living if that were the case. "Wait…then why am I still alive? I didn't steal from him, and I would assume that he's mostly out of his jurisdiction around this area, but I did attack and insult him. And I know he knew more than he was letting on, so he must have known who I was possibly related to. Why am I still standing, and why did he help me after words? And didn't you say he fought me in my Youko form?" Kurama started to answer but Lynn cut him off, mostly speaking to herself at this point. "But that would mean he knows I'm from the Silver Fox clan now. That doesn't explain why I'm still alive, even if he knew of that."

Kurama waited a moment to make sure she was finished talking before he spoke next. When it was silent and Lynn was deep in thought, he spoke. "Lynn." Gaining her attention, he continued. "That is why I said that I was confused by why you were still alive. Normally, Lord Sesshomaru would never, even in his more mellowed state, allow someone to live if they insulted or attacked him. I think he may have had his suspicions before about who you were, likely, he could smell the Silver Fox in your scent, but I'm sure it wasn't until you attacked him in Youko form that he knew without a doubt who you were, or at least where you came from, regardless of whether you knew or not. The only thing I can think of is that he's…amused or dare I say…smitten…by you."

"Smitten? As in, he likes me?" "Something like that," Kurama said, nervously rubbing the back of his head. He wasn't sure what exactly stopped Lord Sesshomaru from killing his baby cousin, but it was obvious that he held some kind of interest in her.

At the thought of the insanely hot demon Lord "liking" her, Lynn blushed brightly. Her face heated up so badly that if she had been in an anime, the not so PG-13 images flying through her head would have likely caused a massive nose bleed. As it was, she was feeling rather dizzy and light headed. "Lynn, are you alright?" Kurama asked, seeing the look on her face and was rather concerned at the color of her face. Shaking her head and dispelling the thoughts and attempting to put a reign on her raging blush, she nodded. "I'm fine. Just a bit shocked I guess. I've had plenty of guys that I liked who I was sure liked me back, but none of them could compare at all to Sesshomaru if he really does like me."

"Well, I suppose we'll find out at the Mating Ball in a couple of months. I'm sure he'll have something to say then, if he decided to leave you to your own devices." He walked over to her side and sat down next to her, reaching forward and turning the roasting fish so that it didn't get overdone. "Thanks, Kurama," she said, smiling at him. Finishing, she speared the other one and got up, walking towards the river to look for a relatively big flat rock to use to hold the other gutted fish once she was finished with them. Surprisingly finding a suitable one, she walked back over to the fire and set it down beside where she was going to sit and began working on the rest, placing the gutted fish on the rock as she finished them, in between turning the fish over the fire.

She and Kurama ate in peace, joking between each other for a while before she started cooking the rest of the fish for later. Kurama went off into the forest again, both to use the bathroom and to find some leaves to wrap the fish in. Finding a couple of large leaves, he walked back to their temporary camp and rinsed the leaves off in the flowing water before shaking them off carefully. Kurama helped Lynn to wrap up the now cooled off and fully cooked fish in the leaves before using his Youkai to make some vines grow from a seed to both wrap around the leaves and keep them closed and one to make it easier to carry. Kurama somehow managed to wrap the vine in a way to where he could loop the vine around his waist and hold the tightly bound leaved fish in place to leave his hands free.

"You're pretty smart, Kurama," Lynn commented as she watched him work the vines into place. He smiled, his ego stroked. "Why, thank you, Lynn. This way, it's easier to carry, and it keeps my hands free in case I need them. Sometimes things are easier when you're a demon." "You think?" Lynn pondered for a moment as they started walking again. "Yeah, I suppose in some ways it is easier to be a demon. I mean, some demons are unbelievably beautiful. Super strength and speed. Weird powers. I assume demons live longer than humans too. Though I don't think I've ever seen any in my time. Though they probably have some kind of illusion or spell to hide their true forms from the humans."

"You may be right, but I'm thinking that it's not very likely. I'm positive that if there had been any, your Youkai would have come out a lot sooner than yesterday. At the very least, there probably aren't very many. Or in the off chance that there are plenty, they must have strong magic if they can both conceal themselves and their scent and Youkai. And yes, demons live longer than humans. Even half-demons live longer than humans…if they can survive both the humans and demons that hunt them anyway." Lynn frowned. "It seems that no matter where or what time someone goes, there's always going to be people who just don't want to accept something or someone different." "So it would seem," Kurama agreed.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Kurama listening as Lynn hummed quietly to herself. He found himself soothed by the faint music he still heard, though he wasn't sure what it was. After a few more minutes of quiet, he realized that Lynn was humming to the same music that he was hearing, and turned to her. She didn't seem as if she heard it herself, but now that he concentrated on it, it seemed to be coming from her. 'What in the world…?' Kurama thought to himself. It was then that he noticed something small and white hanging down in front of her while a small white string looking thing traveled up to her left ear. Now he was just utterly confused. That had not been there before, or at least he hadn't noticed it before.

"Lynn?" Kurama said quietly. "Hmm?" she answered absentmindedly. "I'm sure this wasn't there before, but what on Earth is going up to your ear and hanging down your front?" "Huh?" she said, momentarily confused. She looked over at him but his gaze was elsewhere. Following his gaze she looked down. At first she didn't see anything out of the norm-well for her anyway-but then she noticed one of her ear buds just casually dangling and slightly swinging in front of her. It was then she realized that he was referring to her ear phones. It was also then that she realized that she had forgotten that she was still listening to her music. "Oh! This you mean?" she asked, holding up the previously dangling ear bud. At his nod, she merely smiled and dropped it.

"It's called ear phones. You put them in your ears to listen to music so it doesn't disturb other people. It's usually attached to a music device such as an Ipod or MP3 player or…my phone!" she exclaimed. She had completely forgotten that she had only wanted to listen to it for a little bit so as to conserve the battery. "Phone?" Kurama questioned, but she ignored him in favor of immediately reaching into her pocket and pulling out said phone, which he only just now noticed was attached to the white thing she called "ear buds" too. She turned off her phone and immediately, the music that he had been hearing was gone. Seconds later, she took the ear bud that was in her ear out and wrapped the string looking thing and all around her phone before putting it back into her pocket.

"I take it that small square black thing was this "phone" you were speaking of?" Kurama asked after a few moments. Evidently, either she hadn't heard him, or she forgot that he had asked about it. "Oh, yes! I'm sorry. I forgot that you were asking about it. It's technically called a cellular phone, but it's called cell phone or phone for short. There are actually two different kinds of phones, landline and cell phone, though they come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. A landline phone is simply a phone that you have in your house but you can really only use it in and around your house, otherwise it'll get out of range. A cell phone is like a house phone only this one you can carry with you where ever you go and it works off of towers that are all around the world in my time. Oh, and a phone is basically just something to contact people with near or far. Like letters in the mail. Well, in this time frame it would probably be just announcements or something like that from Sesshomaru or something."

"Interesting," Kurama murmured. "So these music devices are similar to this phone?" "Kind of. But really the only difference would be that you can't make phone calls with them." Kurama got lost in thought for a few moments, before he ended up just shrugging. It would seem that his baby cousin was full of all sorts of surprises and he had a feeling that he hadn't even begun to scratch the surface. They carried on in silence for a while, Kurama still lost in thought and Lynn quietly humming a song to herself, but eventually Kurama broke the silence with another question and they continued question game, even during their small stop to eat lunch and rest and continued well on until nightfall.

Kurama had insisted on setting up camp for the night, but he made the mistake of telling Lynn how close they were to the village and she refused saying she could wait to rest when they got there. "Stubborn woman," Kurama had found himself saying before he went off to find a stick. It would only be about a 30 minute walk to reach the village, but it would be pretty dark by then and he didn't want to risk travelling without some kind of light. When he returned, she offered to light it for him. "No. I thank you, Lynn dear, but it would burn down the stick too quickly and I have nothing to keep it going for a while let alone stay in one place. I have an idea though. May I borrow your knife?"

Lynn unsheathed her Warrier and handed it to him and watched as he made several cuts along the thicker end of the stick. Once he was satisfied with the depth of each cut, he returned her knife to her before reaching into his hair and pulling out a handful of seeds. "You keep seeds in your hair?" Lynn asked as meticulously went to work embedding the seeds into the cuts on the stick. "Indeed. It is easier to get a hold of them, not to mention my hair hides them very well. Some of them are quiet useful for everyday things like this, or they can be useful as a weapon. It really just depends on what I feel I'll need that day. Watch," he said as he placed the last seed into the gash.

At first she saw nothing, but a moment after he held his hand over the part with all the seeds, she saw a faint outline around his hand that she supposed was his Youkai. Moments later, the seeds sprouted into odd looking flowers. What surprised her though, was that as soon as they sprouted, they started glowing. "What the hell…" she said in shock. Kurama merely laughed softly at her reaction. "They're called lamp weed. As you can see, they glow like a flame. Just one can light a small area, but since I've put a lot of them in this stick, it's now a safe torch that feeds off of my Youkai to stay lit." He demonstrated by holding it over his head for a moment. She found he wasn't kidding about a torch. She was pretty sure that it covered way more area in light than a torch would.

"Neat. Hey, you said I could manipulate plants right? Can you teach me how to do that?" "Of course," Kurama answered with a smile. "But first we need to get you to be able to turn into Youko Feara. Once we manage that without you blacking out, we can start teaching you all sorts of "neat" things." "Ok, so how do we go about unlocking my demon form without passing out?" He gestured her to follow him as he started walking forward. "Somehow we need to get you to tap into your hidden Youkai. I'm certain if you concentrated enough you should be able to do it. Then it's only a matter of practicing." Lynn followed him as she thought. 'Concentration, huh? Man I never was good at that kind of thing. Oh well. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try.'

Lynn stopped for a moment and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate and center herself. The way she figured it, it would be kind of like a meditation thing. She had to center herself in order to find her powers and once she found them, though she didn't know what she was going to do _if _she found them, she'd be one step closer to turning into Feara. Kurama continued walking, not noticing that she wasn't still following at first. It was only a few seconds before he suddenly felt the Youkai of Feara that he realized that he was no longer being followed. Feeling the aura pouring from just outside of the torch light, he whipped around. But surprisingly, instead of dirty blonde with green eyes, he found nothing but silver. "Feara…?" he said in shock. She opened her eyes and looked at him for a moment but they suddenly turned green as Lynn lost her concentration, and he found a human in front of him again.

"Wow, that was weird," Lynn said to herself. Kurama stood there in shock long enough for Lynn to catch up to him and eye him curiously. "Planet Earth to Kurama, are you in there?" she said after trying to get his attention for several minutes. When that didn't work, she reached up a flicked his nose, causing the poor Fox to startle. "Wha…?" Kurama said, momentarily out of sorts. Blinking, his eyes landed on Lynn. "Where the hell was your brain at Kurama? You look like you saw a ghost." "Did you just…?" he started in confusion only to stop when she started grinning. "It worked, huh? That's good to know. But I couldn't hold it for long." Kurama merely stared at her for a few more minutes in shock before grinning himself and shaking his head. "You, dear cousin, are full of surprises. Perhaps we shall have you summon up Feara for Uncle when we arrive. Speaking of which, let us continue."

Lynn nodded and they continued walking. She was more than ready to be there. She was getting tired and her feet were killing her. Hooker boots were not meant to spend hours walking in. Honestly she was surprised that she had yet to trip over something. Normally she could trip over a flat surface no problem. Maybe that meant that her demon side was coming out more since it seemed to be rather graceful. She was so far lost in thoughts of what all she could do as a demon for quite a while that she hadn't noticed that Kurama had stopped until she ran into him, nearly falling on her ass in the process. Luckily, Kurama had fast reflexes and immediately grabbed her upper arm to steady her. "Geeze, Kurama. Warn me before you stop suddenly like that."

Kurama chuckled. "It wasn't sudden dear. I was waiting for you to catch up. That aside," he said softly, wrapping an arm through hers and leading her around a few trees towards what looked like merely more trees, "I'd like to welcome you back home to the Silver Fox clan." Blinking Lynn tried to see what he was talking about but only saw more trees. She gasped as she saw Kurama merely walk through a tree in front of him only to be startled when she was suddenly pulled through it too without the pain she was expecting from colliding with a tree. When she opened her eyes that she didn't realize that she had closed, she found herself gasping as all around them in and out of the small houses were actual foxes, both silver and red, and fox looking people, who she assumed were demons. "Kurama, this is…?" "Yes. The Silver Fox clan. Welcome home, Lynn." Kurama said with a smile. "Kurama, you're back."

At the voice, both Lynn and Kurama turned to look at whoever had been calling him. Lynn, feeling strangely intimidated by the tall male before them, subtly shifted until she was somewhat hidden behind Kurama. Kurama merely smiled at the male. "Indeed I am, Uncle Fury." "Mind telling this old Fox why you suddenly rushed out of the village yesterday?" Fury asked in his deep voice. 'Uncle Fury?!' Lynn screeched in her mind, her eyes wide in shock. He was just as beautiful as Kurama even though his hair and eyes were silver and he had fox ears on his head. Not to mention, he wore mostly white clothing. 'If this is his Uncle, then that means he's my father…' She gasped and tried to hide more behind Kurama as Fury looked behind Kurama and saw her, his eyes narrowing. "And who might this be?" he asked, lifting his head a bit and sniffing the air, trying to catch the girls scent.

"Actually Uncle, she's the reason I left yesterday. However, I think we should take this inside Uncle. You need to be the first to see this." Fury frowned at his nephew, looking into his eyes to try and see what the boy was plotting. Of course, he found no plot. Kurama had been harping at him for a while now that he needed to get mated again, so he didn't put it past the boy to attempt to find him a suitable match. So he wasn't entirely trusting of this new development, but decided to give it a chance. "Alright. But I warn you Kurama, if this is what I think it is, I'm going to hang you upside down for a day with one of my pets." "I assure you, Uncle, this is nothing like that."

Nodding, Fury led the way to his small house. Kurama smiled at Lynn and held her hand, tugging her behind him as she seemed a bit reluctant to follow. Once inside, Kurama placed his make shift torch against the wall, and the second he let go of it, the lamp weed flowers stopped glowing and reverted back into seeds. Kurama then settled himself and Lynn in front of the fire pit in the middle of the room. Kurama squeezed her hand gently in reassurance as Fury settled himself across from them. "Now, Kurama, tell me what this is all about." Nodding, Kurama turned to Lynn. "Do you think you can do it again?" Kurama asked softly. Lynn looked at him for a moment before nodding hesitantly. Turning away from Kurama, she closed her eyes again and tried to forget how nervous she was. Moments later, she felt herself changing, but didn't open her eyes. This time she tried to embrace the power as much as possible, or she would have if she hadn't heard a gasp. Opening her eyes, she found Fury staring at her in shock. "Feara…"

A/N: Woo! Another chapter done! Heh, it took me a while and various different things were flying through my mind about this part. I had thought to cut it off with a camping scene, but I decided I wanted her to finally meet her father. That, and knowing my real Lynn the way I do, if she were that close to a place, she'd want to get there as soon as possible too. Anywho, thank you to everyone whose liked/favorite either my story itself or me. I really appreciate it! Another thanks to Angel, who was the very first to comment on my story. Another huge thanks to my new reviewer Luna! I really appreciate all your support! And again, remember, reviews fuel plot bunnies!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Wooo! Chapter 4! I'm happy that I've gotten this far. I'm sure Lynn's happy. I was originally going to wait to start chapter 4 until I got hopefully a few more reviews, but I think this will make a good get well present for her (especially considering this was originally a late birthday present for her) as she's feeling rather crappy right now. I don't know what's wrong with her, but here's to hoping this cheers you up, my love! Get better!

P.S. Thank you to all my faithful followers/favoriters and reviewers. I really appreciate all your support, as it makes easier to want to write more. I've started on a Drarry fan fiction (like I really start on another one when I haven't finished others) and I'm working on a couple of Naru/Sasu ones as well a Sailor Moon one. Annnnndddd a few other ones that I need to work on :/ But right now my main priority is gonna be SLAF as this is for my bestie/sister. Anywho, on with the story, but before that: I want to say thank you to Dahlia for your awesome comment! It really makes my day to have such nice comments and makes me want to write more. Remember though, reviews fuel the plot bunnies!

_Previously: Turning away from Kurama, she closed her eyes again and tried to forget how nervous she was. Moments later, she felt herself changing, but didn't open her eyes. This time she tried to embrace the power as much as possible, or she would have if she hadn't heard a gasp. Opening her eyes, she found Fury staring at her in shock. "Feara…"_

Lynn shifted nervously, not sure how she should react to this. In her world, her father and mother weren't together, and recently her father had been growing distant from her, but she suspected that it was because she was working all the time and growing up. She was sure that he didn't like the fact that she was taking care of herself now and didn't always need his help. But she let it be because she knew that he needed to figure it out on his own. But she _knew _him, she didn't know the man in front of her, but for some reason, as much as she felt intimidated by this man, she felt warmth from somewhere deep in her Youkai, responding to the male in front of her.

She was startled when Fury leaped over the fire pit and wrapped her in his arms, hugging her tightly. "I don't believe it, my little girl Feara," he whispered shakily into her hair, and she felt something wet drop onto her shoulder, which she assumed was his tears. Surprisingly, she didn't lose control of her powers and revert back to her human form when he suddenly leapt at her. She hesitantly followed the urges that her Youkai sent to her and wrapped her arms around him as well, hugging him back and nuzzling him under his chin to try to comfort him. Where that idea came from, she hadn't the slightest clue, but it seemed to work.

He pulled back and cradled her face in his hands gently, looking down at her. "How is it that…I thought…" he said, not able to coherently finish his sentence due to shock and happiness. "I'm not sure myself, Uncle, but it seems from what she told me, that she was sent to a different time. A different country as well it would seem. I briefly sensed her the day before yesterday just barely and went to see what was going on. That's why I left so suddenly. When I found her, she was like she was before. But apparently, much to my surprise, she fought with Lord Sesshomaru." "What?!" he said in shock and whipped around to look at Kurama. "I fought with Sesshomaru," Lynn repeated before Kurama could say anything. "I don't remember the last half of it, but I fought with him."

Fury looked at her in shock, before grasping her shoulders and shaking her a bit. "How in the world did you survive that? No, never mind that, what were you thinking? You could have been killed!" Lynn scowled at him and pushed him back. "Look, I may be your long lost child, but I am not helpless. I can take care of myself." "Feara…" Fury started only to be cut off. "My name is Johnnie Lynn Carter." Blinking, Fury looked to Kurama, who only shrugged. "It shouldn't be a surprise, Uncle. She was living in another time and place. Not very many people in her time have names like ours." "I…suppose not."

Kurama turned to Lynn. "Lynn, dear. Please try not to be offended by Uncle. He doesn't mean to make you feel like you're not capable of taking care of yourself. He's just worried about you like I was. It's not very common, as I told you, to fight and insult Lord Sesshomaru and live to tell the tale. He's merely trying to assure himself that you're going to be careful." Lynn glared at Kurama, her eyes narrowing. She knew he was telling the truth, but that didn't make her feel any less like her ability to take care of herself was being taken into question again. "I'm sorry, Fea-Lynn," he corrected himself quickly with the name that Kurama had been calling her, "Kurama is right. I was just worried. Lord Sesshomaru, as I'm sure you've heard from Kurama, isn't known for his compassion. I'm very glad to see you, little love. You have no idea how much I've missed you and to hear that you're alive and well and here then almost got hurt by Lord Sesshomaru threw me off."

Lynn reigned herself in, agreeing that it was very lucky that she had lived, especially considering she herself knew that he could have probably kicked her ass, and she didn't exactly remember it. She was also a little shocked that she was still holding up her Youko without a problem. She looked up at the man who called himself her father, seeing that even in her human form, she looked much more like him than her own parents. "It's weird," she said softly, tilting her head into the hand that was gently stroking her cheek. "What is?" Fury asked gently. "This whole thing. It feels like this is the right place for me to be. I mean, I see more resemblance in you, even in my human form, than I did with my parents. Even Kurama has some resemblance to me."

Kurama chuckled. "Well, dear, I told you. I am your cousin." Lynn nodded, blinking as something flitted through her head. Her eyes narrowed and took on a faraway look. "Lynn?" Fury said, worried that something was wrong. He frowned when she jerked away and held her head. "What is this…?" she gasped out as images flowed through her head, images that made no sense to her and yet they did. She clenched her eyes shut in pain, trying to make sense of it all before she let out a screech of pain and passed out, reverting back to her human form. "Lynn!" Kurama and Fury yelled at the same time, before leaping forward to catch her unconscious body. "Kurama, do you have any idea what happened?" Kurama shook his head but said, "I have an idea of what happened, but I'm not positive about it." "Explain," Fury ground out as he gathered Lynn in his arms and held her close, stroking her hair away from her face, frowning at her odd clothing.

"I think it was her Youko." "What do you mean? Why would her Youko do this to her?" "This is only the second time she's turned into Youko Feara, Uncle. The first time was very brief, and I accidentally startled her out of it. She was able to hold it longer this time, for whatever reason. I think, that with her newly awakened Youko that it triggered memories of when we were attacked." "This was the second time? Even if she had been sent somewhere else, her Youkai still should have shown itself." "I agree. However, I believe she was sent to a time and place where there are no Youkai, or at the very least their Youkai were suppressed with very powerful magic. Therefore her Youkai saw no need to reveal itself, to her or anyone else. I'm sure she must have felt something from it, but not enough to cause her concern."

"I see," Fury said softly. "It would make sense. If her Youko was dormant for as long as you said, then it isn't entirely unlikely that it finally made its appearance, but given she was reborn human like you, it would seem that it overwhelmed her." Fury picked her up bridal style and walked over to the furs that he used as a makeshift bed and gently laid her down and covered her up. "Yes. I believe that is what happened. But now that she's seemed to have gotten the hang of using her Youkai a bit, I think we could easily train her and have her up to par in no time. She seems to learn fast. Also, Uncle, I think, as odd as this sounds, that Lord Sesshomaru is intrigued by her."

"Oh? Do explain," Fury murmured, sitting down next to him. Kurama then explained what the plants showed to him earlier that day. By the end of the story, Fury felt like his jaw was literally on the floor. And it only got better from there, as Kurama continued the story from what Lynn had told him transpired after Lord Sesshomaru had taken her to the cave. He was shocked to say the least. It was very odd, on both parts, that Lord Sesshomaru had let her live, and on top of that, she innately tapped into her powers and was even giving Lord Sesshomaru a run for his money, though he was quiet sure that he had merely been holding back in surprise as well as amusement.

Shaking his head, Fury rubbed his face. This was just entirely too much shock for one day. Though he was happy, extremely so. He had his baby back. Mostly anyway. Though he was sure, when she woke up, that she would probably remember what happened now, and might just accept the fact that he was her biological father, regardless of where she had been reborn. He sighed softly. "I have to thank you, Kurama. I know that I haven't been easy to live with since Naraku attacked us and killed Keera and Feara. But I have to say, this is the best gift you could have given me. More so than trying to set me up anyway." At that, Kurama chuckled. "It was nothing Uncle. As a matter of fact, I'm rather happy myself. I never said anything, but I blamed myself for the longest time after I sent her soul off, thinking that we had lost her forever. I'm happy to be shown I was wrong."

Fury smiled then bonked his nephew on the head. "Ouch!" Kurama yelped out, rubbing his head and glaring at his Uncle. "What on Earth was that for, Uncle?" "For blaming yourself. This is for bringing my daughter back to me," he said, leaning over towards Kurama and used one arm to hug him tight, showing his happiness at having his only child back. Kurama smiled and hugged him back. "It was no problem, Uncle. But I think we should figure out what to do about the villagers. They no doubt sensed her as well, especially considering she was right here when she transformed. They're likely to question her relentlessly in the morning." Nodding, Fury thought about it for a few minutes, not wanting her to be overwhelmed again.

Shaking his head, he said softly. "I don't think we could stave off the Silver Fox clan from asking a million and one questions. The only thing we can do is prepare her for them and warn them not to bombard her with too many questions at once. That's really all we can do for now. That and she might take it as babying her if we try to stop them, even if we are just concerned for her. At any rate, let us retire for the night. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. All this excitement has tired me out." Kurama laughed. "I know what you mean, Uncle. I am tired as well." Fury got up and stretched a bit before going to his small armory (I think that's what you call those little stand up closets) and pulled out a pair of white sleeping pants made from demon silk.

Changing quickly, he quickly brushed out his long hair and situated himself next to Lynn on the make shift bed. "I'll see you in the morning, Uncle," Kurama said, stifling a yawn. "You are more than welcome to stay here with me and Feara, Kurama." "It's quiet alright, Uncle. I've been with her all day. It's your turn to spend time with her." Nodding, Fury waved him off sleepily, murmuring a quiet "Good night," and smiling as he heard it in return as Kurama quietly left. He covered his lower half with one of the furs and got comfortable. Under normal circumstances, he would have snuggled around his child. As a fox, he naturally craved affection from those he loved. And given that he just got his daughter back, his instincts were yelling at him to cuddle his daughter. However, he resisted, knowing that she probably wouldn't appreciate it as she didn't remember him.

He closed his eyes and immediately drifted off to sleep, a soft smile of happiness on his face. Later that night, Lynn woke up with a splitting headache. She rubbed her head with one hand, not bothering to sit up because she knew without a doubt that her whole head would be pounding even more. She moved her head a bit, looking around. The fire had died out long ago, but she found she was still warm. Moving her other hand, she realized that she was laying on something soft and fuzzy. She found that she was covered with something of the same quality as well. She looked around with the little bit of light coming from the only window nearby that was coming from the nearly full moon, finding her father laying a little bit away from her. She smiled a bit, realizing that he probably did that in regards to her feelings on personal space.

The smile faded when she remembered the images that had caused her to pass out in the first place. She remembered now. Or her Youkai did at any rate. It showed her all her memories since birth, including the attack on her clan and her death. She shuddered at the pained look on Kurama's face as he watched her die. She also remembered feeling her soul, Youkai and all, leave her body only to be sent elsewhere, watching as Kurama slowly disappeared from her sight. She now remembered what her Youkai kept hidden, realizing that her Youkai had been trying to communicate to her ever since she was born as a human, though it wasn't able to fully show itself. Now she understood why she always heard voices in her head at random times. As well as why she always did pretty well with plants, considering her father owned some farming area.

It explained so much, yet caused so many other questions. Like, why was she here now? What was she needed her for? To heal her father's broken heart? She wasn't sure, but she was rather amused that he had ignored his instincts to cuddle with his only daughter in respect for her. She smiled again, deciding to take things as they came. She closed her eyes momentarily and brought forth Youko again, feeling her body change slightly. She felt her clothes change as well but ignored it. Moving closer to her father, she wondered if she could keep hold of her Youko while she slept, but decided she'd find out in the morning. Fury stirred at feeling her Youkai brush his, but didn't waken, obviously trusting the aura that brushed against his. Snuggling up to her father, she sighed in contentment when he unconsciously wrapped an arm around her and hugged her close. She was happy for once. She felt needed and wanted here verses back in her time. She had always felt out of place.

Closing her eyes, she happily fell asleep in her fathers' arms, a smile on her face. Kurama, who had felt her aura again, came to check on her to find her snuggled happily against her father, in her Youko form. He smiled at the sight, glad that his cousin was finally home, before returning to his small hut filled with priceless treasures and settled down to sleep.

The next morning, Fury slowly woke up to find his still Youko daughter, comfortably asleep against his chest. He smiled broadly at the sight. He didn't know how it came about, but he certainly wasn't complaining. Neither was his Youkai. It nearly purred in contentment to have his daughter back and near him as she was. '_Ours_,' he heard his Youkai whisper in his mind. Curling around Lynn, Fury closed his eyes and drifted back off into sleep, one word on his mind. 'Ours,' he agreed with happiness. A little while later, Kurama entered Fury's' hut to find them curled around each other, his Uncle, or more likely his Youkai, purring and swishing his tail under the furs. He chuckled softly.

Or he did until he was pelted with a makeshift pillow. Efficiently startled, he looked to find his little cousin smirking at him. "So you are awake then," Kurama said quietly. "Last I checked," she muttered just as quietly, grinning at the fact she was able to startle him. She was in a rather playful mood it seemed. She was still in Youko form, so it wasn't much of a surprise when her tail swished under the furs and her ears twitched with excitement. Kurama noted the look in her golden eyes, likening it to his own when he spotted something valuable that he felt the urge to steal. He grinned, deciding a little payback was in order. "Well, little cousin, it would seem that you are in a rather mischievous mood this morning. But cousin or not, pay back is in order, my dear Feara," he said before reaching down, quick as lightning and picked up the pillow he was pelted with and threw it back at her.

She yelped and tried to get away from the flying pillow, but with her fathers' arms around her and she not wanting to wake him up, it was a bit difficult trying to dodge it. While she was distracted by projectile pillows, Kurama took that moment to shift into his Youko form and literally pounced on both her and his Uncle, startling the poor demon awake. Lynn laughed as Kurama proceeded to tickle her sides, squirming against Fury and trying to get away. Fury, however, once he restarted his heart after the initial shock, laughed and pounced on them both, joining in and sending them all sprawling across the furs in a laughing pile of silver.

"Ok, ok, I give!" Lynn said out of breath from laughing so much. As a matter of fact, she wasn't sure when the last time was that she laughed this much, even with her human parents. Kurama laughed and reverted back to his red-headed self, picking himself up off of his Uncle and cousin. Lynn, who was still laughing, reverted back to her human form as well. "Well, good morning to you both," Fury said, laughter still evident in his voice. "Morning," Lynn and Kurama happened to say at the same time. They both looked at each other in surprise, then laughed. Fury reached his hand out and smoothed it down over Lynn's shoulder length hair. "How are you feeling this morning, little love?" Fury asked softly.

"Much better, father. Thank you." Fury blinked at the father comment in surprise, but smiled none the less. "Can you tell me what happened?" Fury asked. "Yes, please do tell, cousin. We were rather worried when you suddenly passed out from pain." "I'm sorry. I don't know why, but there were tons of images flashing through my head, including the fight between me and Sesshomaru. My Youkai told me that it was my memories from when I was little that it retained. It showed me the attack, it even showed Kurama sending my soul and Youkai off. Then it showed me the times that it tried to communicate with me but couldn't. Even my Youkai doesn't know why it couldn't contact me. But I understand now why it kept hearing things, was able to grow things easier than even my father whose a farmer."

Fury nodded. "It would seem Kurama's thoughts on your condition were correct. And you've done very well with your Youko. With more training, I'm sure that you could hold it for as long as you want without it dispersing on you. With training, of course. Right now, however, our clan is curious about you. They haven't realized who you are yet, I'm sure, but I must warn you, they are going to have a lot of questions. And a lot of them are going to want to hug or touch you. Foxes by nature are affectionate creatures, so their wanting to touch you isn't out of the norm here, especially since we had all thought that you were killed by that bastard half-breed Naraku. I just wanted to let you know so that you wouldn't be offended or overwhelmed."

Lynn nodded. "I can handle it. Besides, in one way or another, they are all my family, aren't they?" Fury smiled and nodded gently hugging her to him. "Yes, love, they are." "Mostly distant relatives by blood but a lot family by heart," Kurama said, hugging her as well. Lynn felt herself truly smiling for the first time in her life. The only thing that would make her happier would be to have her best friends here with her as well. But she was sure that she, given that she was a demon, would probably live a long time and would be able to see them and her human family again. So she didn't worry over it much.

They hugged in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before she pulled away. "Well, I suppose we had best go play 21 questions before they come in here looking for me." "21 questions?" Kurama and Fury said in unison, confusion clear on their faces. Laughing, she answered, "It's a human game from my time. Basically all you do is ask and answer a lot of questions. The only time it's fun is if you're getting to know someone or you've been drinking. You learn a lot of things when people are drunk." Kurama shook his head while Fury just chuckled. "Well, I'm sure quite a few people will be getting drunk tonight. I do believe a celebration for your return is in order."

"I love parties!" Lynn said enthusiastically, nearly bouncing where she sat. Kurama and Fury laughed and they all stood up, walking to the door. Lynn peeked out from around the wooden curtain that served as a door and sure enough, it looked as if the entire village of Silver Foxes where standing about, some of them looking as if they wanted to come in after Fury to see what was going on. Lynn dropped the screen and took a deep breath. As much as she got along with strangers where ever she went, she was rather nervous about meeting an entire village of people, demons no less, that were in one way shape or form her family. Letting it out, she pushed the screen aside and stepped outside, Fury and Kurama behind her.

Kurama grabbed her left hand and gently squeezed it in reassurance while Fury came to her right side and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it briefly, before dropping it to address the village. "My people, I have an announcement to make. I know some of you are wondering who this girl is, as well as who the aura I'm sure you all felt last night came from. I'm pleased to introduce to you this female, called Johnnie Lynn Carter by her human parents. I'm even more pleased to re-introduce you to my only child, Youko Feara." The crowd murmured amongst each other at that. Lynn fidgeted nervously, not sure what to make of all the murmurings. Kurama squeezed her hand again and watched as one of the Elders of the clan stepped forward to address Fury.

"Forgive me, Lord Fury, but your daughter was lost long ago. Are you telling us that this girl, this human, is your daughter, Youko Feara?" the Elder, Konta, asked, bowing to show his respect to their Lord. "That is exactly what I am saying. As surprising as it is, I beg of you to believe that I am telling the truth. Kurama left several days ago when he sensed Fearas' aura. As he was the last one to see her before her death, he knew her aura without question. So he went to see what was going on. When he arrived, he found Lynn, and learned that she not only stood up to a swamp demon, but our Lord Sesshomaru as well, and lived to tell the tale." More murmurs where whispered throughout the crowd gathered, but the Elder bristled. "My Lord, you cannot be serious. We all know what it would mean to stand up to the Lord Sesshomaru. It means instant death, dismemberment at best. How would a human that you claim to be Feara survive him?" Konta asked in disbelief.

Lynn started to get angry, but Kurama squeezed her hand to gain her attention and shook his head when she looked at him. Before Fury could speak, Kurama spoke up. "Elder Konta. I realize that it is rather hard to believe, and even I, who watched the fight through the plants in the areas' eyes, still find it hard to believe. But Lynn did in fact stand up to Lord Sesshomaru, and while she didn't win or lose, she survived, all her limbs intact. From what I saw, I do believe Lord Sesshomaru was amused with her, which is most likely why he spared her life. And I know, as does Uncle Fury, for a fact, that she is, indeed, Feara. She has turned into her Youko form three times now, each longer than the last. She can prove it to you as well, if you would let her."

Elder Konta still looked skeptical, but Fury turned to Lynn and nodded his head. She took another deep breath and let it out shakily before nodding her head and turning back to the crowd. Closing her eyes, she centered herself and found and grasped hold of her Youkai, drawing it forth, ignoring the multiple gasps of shock and sounds of surprise as she felt her body changing once again. When she opened her eyes, Elder Konta was staring at her in shock. Her aura alone proved her to be a Silver Fox, as well as the normal Silver Fox attributes, but everyone could see, without a doubt, that she directly resembled their Lord. Even the Elder couldn't deny that. "It would seem," a voice rang out as an elderly woman stepped forward, "that our Princess has returned home where she belongs."

The elderly woman, most likely another Elder, looked like the rest of the clan as far as the silver hair and ears and tail went. Other than her looks, the only other noticeable difference was her eyes. They were pink instead of the golden color of most everyone else. "Elder Mikoto," Fury acknowledged with a tilt of his head and a slight bow. Mikoto stepped out around Konta, gently placing a slightly withered hand on his shoulder before moving on and stepping towards Lynn. Kurama released Lynn's hand and stepped away a bit to allow Elder Mikoto to circle Lynn as she pleased. Mikoto noted the panicked look in Lynn's eyes as both Kurama and Fury stepped away, but she ignored it, knowing that she was just nervous.

Circling the young Fox, Mikoto carefully looked her up and down. She smiled as she noticed that even though she seemed older in her human guise, the girl was still a child in demon terms. She stopped her circling and stood in front of the girl, looking her up and down again briefly, before she reached out and grabbed the poor nervous child and hugged her to her. Lynn didn't know what to do as the woman circled her then stopped, apparently satisfied with whatever she found and then was drawn into a hug. Just as she thought to hug the woman back, she pulled away and turned to the clan. "My fellow Foxes, our Princess is home!" she shouted out, and the entire crowd cheered and roared, jumping up and down in happiness.

And just as Fury had predicted, the entire village started preparations for a huge celebration. Lynn later found out that Mikoto was the village Seer and had a vision of the moment she would return. Fury knew she was a Seer, but he had never asked, having been afraid to know the answers. The only problem was that her visions came and went as they pleased. There was no telling from one minute to the next what she would see. And usually it was something that would happen at a later time, so she had no way of knowing exactly when it would happen. Occasionally she would have one of the villagers ask to keep them updated if she happened to have a vision involving them, but not many bothered with it, preferring to live in the now.

And indeed, Lynn did have to play 21 questions with all of the villagers. She tried to steer clear of someone who looked like they were going to ask a lot of questions though, as she found she had to repeat herself quite a few times and it was beginning to annoy her. For the most part, she stayed around her father or Kurama, but some of the villagers managed to corner her a few times with questions. Needless to say, it was a long night, with lots of drinking. She managed to stay in her Youko form throughout the day, but when she started drinking Sake and got completely trashed to cover up her nervousness, she found it harder to control her Youkai in order to keep her Youko form.

It was shortly after midnight and the celebrations were still going, everyone, children included, though they didn't drink the alcohol, were still up, dancing and singing. Lynn managed to stumble over to Kurama and practically fell in his lap, laughing her head off as her clumsiness. Apparently, even in Youko form, she could be clumsy while drunk. "Kurama, we need ta make a-hic-video of all tha questions p'ple are askin meh. 'Specially-hic- 'siderin how many times I've had to ans'er tha same-hic- questions like, a bahzillion times," Lynn said drunkenly, most of her words slurring together. "Lynn, dear, may I ask what a video is?" Kurama had been drinking as well, but he was nowhere near as drunk as she was. If anything, he was barely buzzed. But he found her drunkenness rather adorable right at the moment. At least she was no longer nervous and was talking with everyone now without looking petrified.

"Ya don' know wha a video is?" she asked, then giggled again. When Kurama shook his head, she grabbed it to keep it from moving. "Don' do tha…" she giggled again and finally answered his question. "A video, ma dear-hic- cousin, is som'thin tha ya can wa'ch on TV. Oh, ya don'-hic- know wha a TV is either, do ya?" she asked laughing. "No, I can't say that I do, little cousin." "A TV is-hic-a box wit a glass screen innit tha-hic-shows an image, kina like-hic-memories 'cept tha its precorded an put on-hic-a disc tha ya put inta a 'lectronic davice called a DVD-hic-playa an ya can wa'ch it on tha TV. Awesome thang if ya ask meh," she slurred out. While Kurama could understand what she slurred out, he couldn't say that he understood what a video or this "tv" or even what a "DVD playa" was.

He shook his head, deciding to ask her about it when she was sober, and just hugged her close as she snuggled closer to him. "All these questions makin my-hic-head hurt, 'Rama. How long they gonna ask meh five hun-hic-dred questions…?" she asked sleepily. "Probably for a few days, little one. Sleep, Lynn." "'Kay," she murmured and buried her face into his neck, instantly falling asleep. Kurama smiled and stroked her hair, watching the flames in the fire pit that he was sitting near with the rest of the clan. He had been sitting there for a while now, watching Lynn flit from person to person, answering questions as she went before she decided to literally plop into his lap. Setting his drink aside, he gathered her close, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and placing the other beneath her knees and picked her up bridal style, carrying her back to Fury's hut.

He wasn't all that surprised that she reverted back into her human form as she fell into a deeper sleep. Fury had just been getting ready to return to the festivities when Kurama came into his hut with a sleeping Lynn. Chuckling, Fury took her from Kurama and laid her down on the furs. Looking over her clothes, he decided to let her keep the ones she had until he could have some made for her, but the things she called boots would have to go. "Any idea on how to get these things off her feet, Kurama?" Fury asked quietly. "Not a clue, Uncle. I suppose we'll have to ask her how to do it." Nodding, Fury shook Lynn's shoulder, grinning when she simply muttered something and turned over.

He shook her shoulder again, calling her name softly. "Lynn, dear. I need you to wake up for a minute." She moaned and pushed his hand away, snuggling into the furs. Chuckling, Fury placed his hands under her arms and sat her up, causing her to groan and try to push away. "Feara," Fury said in a no nonsense tone, "wake up for a minute, love." Lynn very nearly growled and glared sleepily at him. "Wha…?" she asked, swaying slightly both from sleepiness and drunkenness. "How do we get your…boots…off dear?" he asked, petting her hair, trying to sooth her. Lynn looked down in confusion before it registered what he wanted. Leaning forward she lifted up her pants leg and unzipped her boot, much to the surprise of Fury and Kurama who had never seen a zipper before. She tossed one boot to the side and undid the other as well, making her that her throwing knifes stayed put as she set it aside.

She pushed herself up from the furs, nearly falling onto Fury in the process because of her loss of balance, and undid her pants, shoving them down her hips, surprising Kurama and Fury and making them look away. "Kurama, get her some sleep pants, please," he said, thinking that she was probably naked under the pants. Of course, she was wearing a pair of boy shorts underwear that was black with white flowers on them. She shucked off her shirt as well as her weapon harness and took the pants that Kurama offered her without looking and slipped them on, before plopping herself into Furys' surprised lap and snuggling close.

Fury shook his head in amusement at his child. Either she wasn't bothered by the fact that she near about stripped in front of her father and cousin, or in her drunken and sleepy state, she hadn't paid it any mind. Kurama smiled at them both. "It's good to see you smile again, Uncle. It has been too long." "It has," he said in agreement. Fury nuzzled Lynn's hair for a moment before he laid her down on the furs, carefully covering her up. "I think I will retire with Feara, Kurama. You can join us or return to the festivities if you like. It's been a long day for you both, I'm sure." Kurama thought about it for a minute before deciding he would sleep with them tonight. "I will join you, Uncle, if you don't mind. But I will go and change first." Fury nodded and waved him off, turning to get himself ready for bed as well.

By the time Kurama came back, Fury was already laying down with Lynn and she was snuggled up to him. He smiled for what seemed like the millionth time that day. He hadn't smiled much since the attack of their clan, the deaths of the many, including Feara and Aunt Keera. But he found that he could smile now, happy to have his cousin back. Though he missed Aunt Keera, he knew she would be happy that her only child survived and made it home. He shook his head to clear it of the dreadful memories and walked over to the bed, and lay down next to Lynn, covering himself halfway so that he wouldn't get too hot. Not even minutes later, he and Fury both fell asleep as well, as the day had indeed been tiring for the reunited family.

For Lynn, the weeks flew by quicker than she would have liked. The day after the celebration, she had woken to a hangover from hell, but the clan healer, Shinamori, was able to give her something to tide it over. She had also smoked the last of her cigarettes, much to her dismay, but she figured it was for the better anyway. She suffered quite a few temper tantrums, mostly while during training, but managed to fight it off until she no longer had fits. Until that time frame, Kurama found that he didn't want to be the one training her, as he was often the one that suffered for her tempers. He was rather thankful when they were over with. She did of course warn him. He just hadn't taken her seriously at the time.

She now could hold her Youko form for days at a time. Her training with Kurama as far as using the plants around her where going smoothly as well. He even showed her how he hid his own seeds or small plants to use in fights if he needed to. She found it rather useful and quite easy to hide things with, though she had never thought to use her own hair. Her hand to hand combat training with her father increased as well. Her father was pleased with how quickly she was learning and adapting. He had finally gotten her some clothes and now she found that she liked the loose clothing as it gave her room to move while fighting. The seamstress that he had hired managed to make a top for her that wasn't too revealing but something she could use to her advantage if she wanted to distract men. It was around then that she realized all the changes that her body went through when she turned into Youko.

The seamstress had brought a full length stand up mirror for her to use while she tried on different clothes and she finally saw her Youko form for the first time. Her hair had grown longer, to just below her but as a matter of fact, and turned a sparkly silver, accentuated by the fluffy silver ears on her head, that twitched occasionally, carefully listening to all the sounds around her. She grew several inches from her normal five feet two (without her boots) to a nice height of five foot seven. She watched with a faint smile as her fluffy silver tail swished side to side in contentment. But her favorite change by far was the fact that her barely A cup breasts had dramatically increased in size to C cups, making them much bigger than before.

It was then that she decided that she would want to stay in Youko form as much as possible. She found she liked herself better this way. Besides the physical changes, she learned quicker in this form and was less clumsy, unless she was drunk. For her pants, she had decided that she would use a mixture of both sexes. While she was a tomboy and would rather wear pants, she knew she had to get used to kimonos and dresses and what not, so she had the seamstress make the top into a dress like shirt that had slits on the sides all the way up to her waist so that she could freely move her legs. Like most of the clan, her clothes where white, but she insisted that the sash that held her pants up be black so there would be some kind of color. The sash that she used to tie the top closed was black as well.

Since she didn't need hooker boots to be tall anymore, she had taken to wearing white slipper like shoes as well. She found she could live with the outfit and had several made, with some even in different colors for a change of pace. Everyone in the village had grown to love and respect her, even the Elders who had been skeptical at first, Konta being the more skeptical of them.

The day of the Mating Ball was steadily drawing nearer, and Lynn found herself getting nervous the closer it got. She had been worried at one point what she would wear to it, but Kurama and her father both assured her that they would have something for her. The week before the Ball, Kurama approached her with what looked like a huge pile of cloth. "What is that?" she asked as she lifted up on layer and looked beneath as if looking for a circus or something beneath it. "Kimonos' of a Princess. Traditional dress of a noble woman." She eyed it in distaste. "Kimonos'? As in, more than one? How many are there exactly?" "Well, normally, the layers depend on your status, but in this case it's twelve." "Twelve?!" she screeched out, dropping the cloth in her hand. "There is no way in hell that I'm wearing twelve kimonos at one time!" "It's tradition," Kurama pointed out calmly.

"Well, I'm changing it. Do you have any idea how heavy that's likely to be, or even how hot? I'll never be able to move in it, let alone defend myself if I need to, with all those layers!" She took off the top one, which was a dark blue with spatterings of silver throughout, and walked off. "What are you going to do, Lynn?" he asked in confusion. "You said that I can use my powers to change my clothes right? It applies to other clothes as well doesn't it?" "Yes, but I don't know what you can change it easily to." He followed her to her fathers' hut, confused when she disappeared behind the changing screen her father had recently got to give her some privacy while changing and stripped and slide on the kimono. He hadn't a clue what she thought she was going to do, but when he was shocked at what she revealed when she stepped out from behind the screen.

She somehow had transformed the kimono into a ** silver and dark blue dress that was sleeveless and strapless. The top part of the dress was silver with faint designs on the front from breasts to waist, lined with dark blue around the top and the lower half were it was made to fit snugly against her waist, which was also line in dark blue and there was a small dark blue flower on her right side between her waist and ribs. The skirt portion of the dress was also silver with dark blue. It was split in two, the left side over lapping the right. Blue lined the top of the sheer skirt, right beneath the blue lining the lower half of the top. The split had blue lining the edges of it was somewhat tiered. The bottom of the skirt was tiered as well and lined with blue and had black designs going two to three inches up from the bottom of the skirt.**

She had even managed to make a pair of shoes to go with it as well. They were gorgeous in her opinion, and made her even taller, as they were high heeled. The heels were see through and the shoes themselves were a silvery light blue. It strapped around the ankle to keep it in place and had a piece going down the outside of the foot that held two light blue silvery flowers on it and attached to the strap that went over the most of her toes, leaving the first three mainly showing. Though of course, the dress was long enough that you could barely see the shoes. She even managed to have her hair go into a mess of curls, most of which was pinned up in a messy bun while the rest tumbled down her back.

In her now curly silver hair was dark blue flowers dispersed randomly throughout on top. She had dark blue flower earrings on as well. The last thing she managed to conjure up with her Youkai, as she had been told that it would be a masquerade Ball, was a half mask that was held in place with sheer silver ribbons. The mask itself was made of silver wire that somewhat covered around her eyes and the top of her nose. It was decorated with four flowers on each side beside her eyes, two on the top and two on the bottom, with small diamonds in them. It also had what looked like feathers spread out around the bottom and top. There was a line of diamonds going down her nose and a few dispersed around elsewhere, as well as three silver reflectors over each eye.

All in all, Kurama had to say that she managed to make herself a beautiful, if unorthodox, outfit. "So," she said, spinning around, "what do you think?" "I think you're going to have a lot of males trying to mate with you." "Psh," she scoffed, not wanting to think of all the rabid idiots likely to try to talk to her. "I'll deal with it when the time comes. I can't think of it now or I'll make myself crazy. Now all I need to worry about is make-up and polish. But now that I think about it, this world doesn't have any of those things do they?" "Make-up is familiar, yes. Lots of the noble Ladies and even some of the Lords wear it," he said as Lynn disappeared behind the screen and redressed in her fighting clothes. "The polish, however, I'm not familiar with." "Polish is a type of paint that you can put on your finger nails and sometimes your toe nails," she told him as she walked over to a chest to put away her new clothes for the trip to the Western Palace, picking out the blue flower pins in her hair and placing them with the mask on top.

"Ah, I'm not sure we have that here. But I'm sure it can be made rather easily if you like. I think Shinamori, being as adept with potions and the like as she is, could probably whip something up for you."

Lynn nodded, happy to have something from her world that she could use. She walked back over to Kurama and looked at the other kimonos that he had in his arms. Finding a red one, she pulled it out and examined it. "Hmm. I think I'll get the seamstress to come and alter this a little bit and I'll wear this one to Sesshomarus' Palace. Maybe I can get her to make some shoes to go with it," Lynn mused. Kurama laughed softly. "You aren't going to make another outfit for yourself?" he questioned curiously. Shaking her head, she said, "Nope. That took a lot of thought and energy to make. Even making my hair like this took a lot of energy." She idly waved at her hair which was still in a mess of curls and set out to find the seamstress. Kurama put the rest of the kimonos back into the small chest that they had been in before hand and followed her out. The rest of the week passed just as quickly as the previous weeks and soon it was time for the Mating Ball at the Western Palace.

They had left several days before in order to get to the Western Palace on time and were near about there now. Kurama and Fury had been going over things that she needed to know and reminding her of things that she had already been told, making sure that she was ready to meet all the nobles of all four lands. She listened with half an ear, fidgeting with her hands in the long sleeves of the red kimono, long enough to cover her hands so they wouldn't be immediately obvious that she was flicking her nails in nervousness. It was the same kimono that she had the seamstress sew an intricate design into with black thread days prior. "We're here," she heard her father say suddenly and she looked out the carriage window that they had taken and felt her eyes widen. "Oh…my…God…"

A/N: Holy God…Chapter 4 and 14 MW pages long…that's surprising. But I finished. Thank God, lol. Anyway, I hope you like it. I find, however, that my least favorite thing to do in any of my stories, is to describe clothes. It's a pain in the ass. So, because she specifically wanted this, I'm going to post the links to the pictures of the exact outfit, make-up and all, in this note so that it will hopefully make a little more sense. I don't know how well I explained it but I did my best. Anywho, have fun with this chapter and get better Lynn! Reviews feed plot bunnies!

**Dress: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/adf9ee2f967f95aecc0acb98c266733f_ .html **

Shoes: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/shoes-heels-ki-queen-10silver_2_ .html

Make-up: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/Silver-Smokey-Eye-Makeup_ .html

Finger nail polish: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/imagesCANY1KYA_ .html

Hair: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/hair-designs-1_ .html

Mask: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/butterfly-mask-2_ .html


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Holy freaking God you guys are fricking awesome! I'm serious! I don't think I've ever had this much positive feedback before on anything, let alone my stories! I'm soooo glad (even though originally this was only for Lynn's benefit) that all of you enjoy my work so much. I've had a total of 536 people view this story alone and 272 visitors to this story as well. I'm not entirely sure how many have favorited either me or my story and or followed either but I'm super happy for it! With that in mind, I'd like to say thank you to Stuff2Eat, luna2121, and Angel-Of-Life1990 for your wonderful reviews! I'd also like to say, that if you don't already view the A/N at the end of my stories, at the very least, at the end of chapter 4 you should. It has the links for the entire outfit and makeup and polish Lynn will be wearing at the Mating Ball (which incidentally pushed me over to 15 pages instead of the 14 I was aiming for). Seems like with each chapter the number of pages keep increasing though, lol. The last chapter was 15 MW pages, though on that one I was aiming for 14. I don't know how many I will do on this one, but let's get started shall we? Thanks again, all you lovely readers!

_Previously: They had left several days before in order to get to the Western Palace on time and were near about there now. Kurama and Fury had been going over things that she needed to know and reminding her of things that she had already been told, making sure that she was ready to meet all the nobles of all four lands. She listened with half an ear, fidgeting with her hands in the long sleeves of the red kimono, long enough to cover her hands so they wouldn't be immediately obvious that she was flicking her nails in nervousness. It was the same kimono that she had the seamstress sew an intricate design into with black thread days prior. "We're here," she heard her father say suddenly and she looked out the carriage window that they had taken and felt her eyes widen. "Oh…my…God…"_

Lynn felt her eyes widen in shock. The Western Palace was huge! Bigger than even some of the mansions she had seen in her time. Not to mention more elegant than any she had seen. The entirety of what she assumed was probably the Palace village and possibly it's market place and God only knew what else, was surrounded by a huge wall, for protection most likely, though what idiot would dare attack someone who was as powerful as every said Sesshomaru was, she hadn't a clue. The gates themselves were huge and looked extremely heavy. She could only imagine what kind of demons Sesshomaru had working for him that could move those gates, either on their own or with the help of wheels and pulleys.

She literally gaped, much to her father and Kurama's amusement, at the market place as they passed through it. She could see rows upon rows of people selling things, be it food, silks, clothes, boots, weapons, jewelry, potions-you name it, it was probably there. "Wow," she found herself muttering. And it only got better from there.

After several minutes they found themselves in the village itself. Even the houses outside of the Palace were relatively big, most likely housing huge families by the look of them. She shook her head in amazement. "This place is crawling with people. And are those _humans _I smell? I thought he didn't like humans." Kurama chuckled and Fury smiled, but it was her father who answered. "Lord Sesshomaru doesn't _hate _them per se, but he isn't very fond of them. However, his father, Lord Inu no Taisho, was rather fond of all people, as long as they didn't try to harm what was his. Humans and half-breeds alike. So yes, there are a few humans here that are brave enough to live in a mostly demon village, as well as a couple of half-breeds. Lord Sesshomaru tolerates them because they were here as part of his fathers' people even before he was born, and as ruler of the West, it wouldn't be very prudent of him to send them off merely because he doesn't have a fondness for them."

"So because they were his fathers' tenants before, he lets them stay here?" Fury hummed out an affirmation, seeing as how Lynn was busy admiring the village and its occupants. The houses themselves were mostly made like those of her village, only they seemed…_better_. "Father, what's up with the houses? They look like ours but different." Fury smirked a bit at that. "That would be because they were built with far superior wood. While they look the same, the people here have the material to make it sturdier, as well as more appealing to the eye. We do not have those particular supplies, as they are rather expensive, so ours are a bit more…primitive I suppose you could say."

"Expensive?" she asked, looking to Fury. "But if it's so expensive, then how is it that these people are able to afford it? They can't all be nobles can they?" "No," Kurama spoke this time, trading an amused look with Fury at Lynn's wonder to the Palace village and it's wonders, "some are nobles. About a quarter of the village population, to be exact. Though there are some elsewhere throughout the West. The ones within the Palace walls have their homes closer to the Palace, to make for easier passing to and from the Palace itself, as there are many things going on daily, like council meetings or births, deaths, other things like that. Even Court, though usually the remaining judgment is left for Lord Sesshomaru, upon his return if he isn't here for the original verdict. The rest can afford to live here either because they themselves are employed by Lord Sesshomaru or their mates are, or they have a stall in the market place and sell both to those who live here, or visitors passing through, including the nobles of the East, South, and North."

"Seriously? How the hell much do they charge people to live the lifestyle here? This is something you'd see like in freaking Las Vegas or something!" Fury and Kurama exchanged confused looks before brushing it off. Lynn had a habit of saying weird things related to her time more often than not, and most times she was able to explain, but there were others where she felt that it was too soon for them to know about it or she didn't know how to explain it herself. Lynn, however, realized what she said, and elaborated. "Las Vegas is a city or village in a place called Nevada, in America, the place overseas that I told you about, that is for people who are rich mostly. They live lavish lives there and spend money on gambling or prostitutes, or even high brand clothes or food." "Ah," Fury said in understanding. "I see. But as I haven't bought anything from here recently, I haven't a clue how much anything here is, though we are not lacking for money, so if you'd like, we can go to the market place closer to the Palace later this evening before the Ball starts to see if you'd like anything, love."

"Really?" she said shocked. "Of course, Feara. After all, I have nearly twenty-four years of spoiling to make up for," he said with a smile. Lynn squealed and launched herself at her father, nuzzling his cheek happily, even as Fury laughed and hugged her close. "Wait," she said after a moment's thought. "You said a market place closer to the Palace. Just how many market places are there?" "Quite a few, love. There's the one at the gate we passed through, which was the West gate, as well as one at the North, South, and East gates. The one closer to the Palace isn't as grand as any of the ones at the gates, being as its mostly necessity things for the Palace itself, and Lord Sesshomaru tends to be overly generous with them, especially on a good day, but the best one here is the Grand Market that we're coming up on now."

"Grand Market?" Lynn said and scooted away to look out the window again. She gasped in awe. "Holy shit…it's even bigger than the first one! And look! They even have a fountain! How the hell did they manage that one?!" she said in shock. All around the fountain and the courtyard it was sitting in as well as extending down the pathways that came from the other directions were tons upon tons of stalls. "This one is bigger because lots of times we'll have foreigners who like to come and trade and sell here. They'll stay at the Inn close by for a discounted price and be here for several days or until they sell all their products. Occasionally they'll find it to their liking and find a home near here if possible," Kurama said, smiling at his cousin. Obviously there was still much for her to learn about demon society, but she had learned a great deal while she was training. Though she'd yet to see a Palace or its surrounding village till now.

Lynn looked on in awe, occasionally pointing out something that looked interesting in excitement as they passed through. It was another few minutes before they got through the last of the stalls of the Grand Market. Lynn pounced on her father's lap again, literally bouncing with energy. "Father, can we come to the Grand Market after we get settled in? We can eat the mid-day meal there and look through the stalls before the Ball starts can't we? Please, father, please?!" she begged, giving Fury the best puppy dog pout and eyes she could. Kurama chuckled at the slightly panicked look on his Uncles' face as Lynn pouted prettily. He already knew that his Uncle couldn't say no to her, both because he loved to spoil his only child rotten and because no one could say no to that cute pout of hers, made ten times worse in her Fox form.

Sighing in mock exasperation, Fury nodded his head. "Yes, Feara, we can come to the Grand Market later. But first we must meet with Lord Sesshomaru and at least let him know we won't be eating the mid-day meal at the Palace and get our things to our rooms in the Palace and then we can go." "Yay!" Lynn squealed and glomped her father, though it wasn't much of a glomp considering she was already in his lap and there wasn't much room for a tackle hug in the carriage. Kurama and Fury both laughed at her excitement.

It wasn't much later that they arrived at the Palace itself, and Fury and Kurama found themselves laughing softly at the awed look on Lynn's face as she craned her neck to look at the gigantic Palace. While the Palace itself was only one story, it towered over them as if it had three stories in it. And that was only the outside. From what she could see, there were several wings, one on either side, and the grand door itself that looked as if it could let a huge animal pass through its doors no problem. The doors themselves were open, though how they opened the doors without a wheel and pulley system she didn't know. Kurama apparently could tell what she was thinking because it wasn't moments after thinking that that he spokes. "Huge, isn't it? The Palace itself was made so that Lord Sesshomarus' Father, as well as Lord Sesshomaru himself, could enter in their humanoid form as well as their true forms."

"True forms?" Lynn asked, confused. "Yes. They are dog demons. The Lord Inu no Taisho was known far and wide as the Great Dog General because he was strong and cunning, as well as kind and lenient to his people. He preferred to give people the benefit of the doubt, even if it cost him dearly in the end, but if you did something grievously wrong and he knew that you didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse for it, look out. His temper is as legendary as his cunning. He had no problem ripping you limb from limb if necessary. He was a great leader, as is his son, the Lord Sesshomaru. Though Lord Sesshomaru rules quiet differently from his Lord Father," Fury answered before Kurama could.

"This Sesshomaru is pleased that you are happy that you think I am a great leader, Lord Youko Fury of the Silver Fox clan," came Sesshomaru's voice, surprising them all. Kurama and Fury had been distracted by the past and Lynn was just enthralled with the story and Palace in general. Fury turned from Lynn and addressed Sesshomaru. "My Lord Sesshomaru, it is good to see you again," Fury said with a bow. Kurama, who had changed into his Youko form at the gate to make it easier on himself, bowed as well with a murmured, "Lord Sesshomaru." Lynn, not knowing what else to do, bowed a bit herself, but didn't address him. Sesshomaru's golden gaze slipped from Fury to Kurama. "Ah, if it isn't the legendary Youko Kurama the thief. This Sesshomaru hopes that a warning doesn't need to be said about stealing anything of mine during your stay here."

"Of course not, My Lord. I am well aware it could be considered treason to steal from ones' Lord," Kurama said with a vulpine grin. "Though I'm certain that if a few things missing from the neighboring Lords and Ladies won't be missed." "Hn," Sesshomaru hummed out, barely withholding a smirk. It was rather well known that he didn't care for the Lords or even the Ladies of the neighboring directions. "Let it not happen while they are here. I would prefer not to have my ears talked off with how scandalizing it is to have their things stolen while in the Western Palace," Sesshomaru murmured, not at all opposed Kurama stealing from the opposing lands. "Of course not, My Lord," Kurama said with a bow.

Sesshomaru actually did smirk then at the look on Kuramas' face. He wouldn't be at all surprised if he got letters concerning missing items a few days after the Mating Ball. His smirk fell a bit when he noticed the female with them, tilting his head a bit to the side and curiosity. "Ah. So it's you," he murmured as he eyed Lynn up and down. "I was wondering if you'd appear in front of this Sesshomaru again." Lynn bristled, not sure if she was being insulted or not, and started to retaliate, but Fury, knowing his daughter as he did, quickly jumped in. "Oh, yes, My Lord. May I introduce you to my only child, Youko Feara?" he said quickly, making Lynn blink, realizing that he was covering for her in fear that she would upset Sesshomaru. Her ears pressed back into her hair in despair.

Sesshomaru himself was rather shocked. "Your daughter? I wasn't aware that you had any children, Lord Fury." "It's quite a long story, My Lord. Needless to say, my child is returned to me, and I am very happy for it. I must also apologize, My Lord." "Whatever for?" Sesshomaru asked, his face showing nothing but his normal stoic expression, but his voice was laced with curiosity and confusion if you knew him well enough to notice. "I was made aware by my nephew Kurama that my daughter attacked and insulted you. I ask that you forgive her, My Lord, as she wasn't aware of who you were at that time." Sesshomaru looked to the girl in question, noting her dejected look that even reached her tail and eyes.

"It is of no consequence," Sesshomaru finally murmured. Fury looked at him in surprise. "My…Lord?" he said, shock and confusion lacing his voice and showing on his face. Sesshomaru merely waved it off. "Originally, this Sesshomaru was insulted that a mere human woman, though she smelled of your clan, felt she could get away with insulting and attacking me. However, this Sesshomaru is aware that she had no idea of either who I was or who she herself was. I expect that she now knows who this Sesshomaru is and will keep her tongue in check this time. I will not be so lenient again." Fury bowed deeply while Kurama hugged a dejected Lynn to him. "I thank you, My Lord. As does my daughter."

"Hn," Sesshomaru said, absently accepting the apology while never taking his eyes off the dejected Fox. 'So it would seem she managed for herself very well after I left her,' Sesshomaru mused to himself, surprised that he found her quite beautiful, both in her Fox form and in her human form. Though nothing would come of such thoughts, he felt that there was no harm in admiring from afar. He had no intentions of becoming attached to anyone anytime soon. Fury, who had straightened up a while ago, looked between Sesshomaru and his daughter. 'It would seem,' Fury thought as he eyed the look on Sesshomaru's face, though it hadn't changed much, 'that Kurama was correct in thinking Lord Sesshomaru feels something for Feara.'

"By the way, My Lord," Fury said, drawing Sesshomaru's attention from Lynn, "Kurama, Feara and I have decided that once we have everything settled, we will be going to the Grand Market and spending a good bit of time there today. Feara has never been to a Grand Market before and is keen on going, so we will not be here for the mid-day meal. I just wanted to let you know." "That is fine. Perhaps you should hurry then, if that is your plans. It is nearly mid-day now, and I imagine the Market will be getting rather crowed here soon, what with all the nobles coming for the Ball," Sesshomaru said, his nose scrunching up a bit at the word "Ball", most likely because he detested such things.

"Of course, My Lord," Fury said, bowing again, waiting until he had a nod of approval from Sesshomaru to follow the waiting servants carrying their things to their rooms. Fury grabbed Lynn's hand and pulled her to him as they were walking, hugging her close. "No need to be upset, little love. I am not angry with you for before. It wasn't your fault and you weren't aware. Thankfully Lord Sesshomaru realized this and isn't angry with you either for it. Though it is a good thing Kurama found you when he did. I'd hate to think what would have happened if he didn't." Kurama came up beside her, holding her free hand and squeezing it in reassurance. "Uncle is right, Feara. Everything is ok. No need to feel upset. It's over and done with, and now you know better. Even Lord Sesshomaru has forgiven you."

Lynn knew they were right, but she still felt bad that her father felt it necessary to cover for her mistake, and she nearly made the same mistake not minutes ago when Sesshomaru spoke earlier. She looked up when Fury and Kurama stopped and saw the servants opening a door. She gasped in surprise when she saw the room itself. It was huge! The only thing she could compare the room to in her own time is a private suite at an expensive hotel, and even then, this room surpassed even that. While it didn't have its own kitchen with electronic appliances, the beauty and style of the room was better than any hotel she had ever seen. The first room itself was merely a sitting room of sorts.

She gaped as they walked into the room, the servants ahead of them to put their things away for them. She spun in a circle, trying to take in everything. The walls were decorated with either lavish tapestries depicting battles between giant dogs and gorgeous paintings mostly of landscapes. To her right was nothing but a writing desk and a few chairs to lounge in should one feel like it. In the middle of the room was a small table surrounded by cushions for guests and their friends to sit and drink tea at if they wished. To the left was a huge fireplace and several chairs to lounge in, as well as huge cushions for anyone who wanted to lounge in front of the fire. Tucked away in the upper left corner of the room was a table with two chairs, which looked to have a beautiful chess set on its surface. 'I didn't know they played chess in this time period,' Lynn thought to herself.

At the upper portion of the room was two large doors that were opened and led into another room. At her father's urgings, she walked into the next room and gasped anew. 'This room is fucking awesome!' Lynn found herself thinking. She spun around looking at this room, making herself dizzy with all that she was trying to take in. The bedroom was huge, the same size, if not bigger, than the sitting room. On the left wall was two huge four poster beds, big enough to fit at least five people into each one, with nightstands on either side of each bed. They both had sheer drapes of silver hanging from the top. The covers on the bed were silver as well, with gold threaded into swirls decorating the majority of it. Which was gorgeous in her opinion, and kind of reminded her of Sesshomaru with his silver hair and golden eyes.

At the upper portion of the room was two open doors that led outside to a balcony that overlooked a gorgeous garden, full of every type of flower and blooming tree imaginable. Lynn wondered idly if there was a way to get to the garden but dismissed it for now in favor of looking at the rest of the room. To the left from bottom to top was a screen for changing behind in the corner, a door that seemed to be a walk in closet from what she could see, an armoire between the closet and the next door, which she could only assume led to the bathing room. In the upper corner sat a good sized fireplace, currently unlit as it was rather warm out at the moment. "Man," she said to herself, "Sesshomaru must be loaded if all his rooms look as good as this one."

Fury and Kurama chuckled, ignoring the servants who frowned at the lack of respect that Lynn showed towards their Lord. "Considering the products made and traded here, I'm quite sure he is," Fury said, laughter in his voice. "Yes, it is well known that the entire Palace itself has many priceless things in each room," Kurama added, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Don't even think about it Kurama," Fury warned. "Don't worry Uncle, I won't be making that mistake. Even if I did manage to get away with anything of value, Lord Sesshomaru would hunt me down to the ends of the earth for daring to steal from him."

The servants left them to their own devices as they set about getting ready to go to the Grand Market. "Hey, Father, do I have to wear this kimono to the Market? I think I'd rather wear my fighting outfit if I'm going to be in the Market until the ball starts. When does that stupid thing start anyway?" Lynn asked, looking at herself in the full length mirror she found in the armoire. "I don't think it will hurt to wear your fighting clothes to the Market, however, I don't think you'll be able to hide your toys with it. And it starts as soon as it gets dark," Fury said in amusement. Lynn frowned a bit, having not thought of that fact. She had her throwing knifes hidden beneath her kimono strapped to her leg with a pouch that she had made with the help of the village blacksmith and her Warrier strapped inside the sleeve of her kimono, strapped to her arm. It was true that she wouldn't be able to hide them with it.

She shrugged lightly, deciding that she didn't need it. "It's all good. Since Kurama taught me how to use plants for weapons and how to hide them in my hair no matter what length it is I can just use them if I need to. I don't think I should need it in the Market place, but at least with that I can use it to my advantage should something come up. Then I'll kick major ass!" she said enthusiastically, striking a pose, causing Fury and Kurama to laugh. "Well then, Princess, by all means, get changed into your fighting clothes so we can leave," Fury laughed out.

"'Kay!" she said and closed her eyes, concentrating her Youkai and changing her kimono into her white slippers, white pants that were cinched at her ankles and tied with a white sash at her waist, and her white sleeveless kimono length yukata with slits in each side and tied closed with another white sash that was knotted at the side, leaving the ends of the sash to hang at her side. She left her hair down, it hanging just below her butt in a mass of silver. Twirling and causing said hair to flare out as she twirled, she smiled. "Ready!" she said and skipped over to the door, much to the two males' amusement.

Fury and Kurama followed a newly happy Lynn out of their room, following the directions from nearby servants to the main entrance and out into the mid-morning sunlight. Sesshomaru was still outside greeting the arriving nobles and literally stopped talking mid-sentence-not that the three Foxes paid any mind to it-and stared at the now energetic Lynn skipping ahead of her father and cousin towards the Market. The nobles he had been talking to looked to see what he had stopped talking for and found themselves gaping. They were from the south, dragon demons to be more specific-though their alliance with the west was shaky at best. Lord Take and his son Draco (yes, I totally just borrowed J.K. Rowling's Draco-the name at least since it literally means dragon-or so I've heard) of the dragon clan stared at the beautiful Foxes. While Lord Take was partial to either sex, his son merely gaped at the female of the group.

Sesshomaru, noticing this, cleared his throat delicately, before speaking again. "Excuse this Sesshomaru, Lord Take. I was momentarily distracted. As you were saying?" Lord Take looked back at him reluctantly, though his son was still staring much to Sesshomaru's dismay. "Yes…I was saying that regardless of our former Lords', Lord Ryukotsusei, attacks on your Lord Father and his lands that it shouldn't make us enemies. Though we are natural enemies, I believe that it would be best for all involved if we could form a better alliance with each other. Perhaps with an arranged marriage? Draco is my eldest, but I have several children you can choose from if you wish. Or even nieces and nephews if you so choose."

Draco outwardly cringed at the thought of mating with Sesshomaru, being as he was more attracted to the opposite sex. No one, not even Draco, could deny the drop dead sexiness of the demon Lord before him. But the thought of marrying someone as cold-blooded as Sesshomaru didn't sit well with him, though he knew that if that was what would be required of him, he'd have no choice but to do it. Sesshomaru himself restrained himself from sneering at the dragon before him, noticing his son cringing at his fathers' offer. He himself couldn't say that he would desire a mating with either dragon, or any of his other relatives. While it was true that he shouldn't hold every dragon responsible for his Lord Fathers' death due to his fight with their Ryukotsusei, it didn't make him want to get along with them any more than necessary, even if they would be a powerful ally.

As it was, he was as close as he wanted to be with the Lord of the South, Lord Takai. And he was a mixture of two different dragons, fire and ice, quite literally. That made him quiet powerful in his own rights. Right up on his own power level, and in a fair fight, there would be no telling who would come out on top. Speaking of… "Lord Take, I do hope that you are not bothering our friend Lord Sesshomaru with talks of mating. You know he isn't one for such things," Takai said from behind the two dragons, having just arrived. Take and Draco turned and Take smiled before they both bowed to their current Lord. "My Lord. I was merely suggesting that he take into consideration a mating with a dragon to strengthen the alliance between the West and the dragons of the South."

"Is that so, Lord Take? Well, there is no need. I have no quarrel with either Lord Sesshomaru or even his Lord Father-may he rest in peace-and see no need to further our alliance with a mating unless he finds someone to his liking, which I'm sure he doesn't…at least not among our clan, my dear Lord Take." "As you wish, My Lord," Take said, bowing again, before ushering his son off to settle in their room. "Lord Sesshomaru, how nice it is to see you again," Takai murmured after the other two dragons went on their way. "Lord Takai," Sesshomaru said by way of greeting. "Forgive me if I overstep my bounds, but am I correct in assuming that you've got your eye on a Fox, My Lord?"

Sesshomaru stiffened and frowned mentally. "I should hardly think so, Lord Takai, and you would do well to keep to your own business. If I had intentions of mating anyone, be it a Fox or otherwise, or even courting them, I would have made that clear long before now. I haven't the time for such trivial things." 'Damn that perceptive dragon. If we weren't friends, I'd kill him,' Sesshomaru thought idly. "Now, now, Sesshomaru," Takai said, dropping the formalities. "Don't leave your best friend hanging from a proverbial limb." Sesshomaru arched a brow at the dragons' audacity of both dropping the formalities and calling himself his best friend. Though now that he thought about it, one could say that this was true, even given the animosity between the dragon clan and his.

"I haven't a clue as to what you are talking about," Sesshomaru said, skirting the issue. "Aww, Sesshomaru," Takai said playfully and pouncing on him, much to his surprise, and hanging from his shoulders. "Don't play coy. I saw how you were looking at the female Fox. She is quiet beautiful, even though she smells of a half breed. Though her scent is rather nice, if I do say so myself." Growling, Sesshomaru clenched his hands to keep himself from ripping the dragon draping himself on his person a new one. "Exactly, Takai, she is a half-breed. It's bad enough that I have a sort of alliance with my bastard brother, I refuse to even think about or even contemplate mating one. Now remove yourself from my person or you will be missing a few limbs."

He was bluffing and they both knew it. Though Takai did remove himself. He was the only one other than Rin and a few of the older servants that had been there since before his Lord Fathers' rule that were allowed such liberties without fear of retribution, but even he had limits. "Half-breeds aren't so bad, you know. I know you've seen that from your brother. Though I think she is a bit different from Inuyasha, in terms of being a half-breed. I think you should get to know her before you decide she's not worth it." "And who are you to be giving this Sesshomaru advice, Takai?" Takai merely grinned. "Your best friend," he replied before turning and walking off towards his room. He had been there so many times to bug Sesshomaru and become good friends with him that he knew where his room was without asking.

Sesshomaru merely shook his head at his "friends'" antics and continued on with greeting the arriving Lords and Ladies of the neighboring lands. He had yet to see The Lord of the North or East, though he was sure it wouldn't be much longer in coming. If he wasn't mistaken, Koga of the wolf tribe and his mate Ayame was now the Lord of the East. He wouldn't be surprised if Koga had met up with his idiot half-breed brother and was even now coming with him and his ragtag group of friends that he called pack. The Lord of the North probably wouldn't be much longer either. The peacock Youkai was always "fashionably late" as he liked to call it. Lord Kazuya was one of the most sensual people that he knew. Given that he was a peacock Youkai, he was rather surprised the demon didn't have a mate yet, considering that he could do the smallest thing and make it sexual and everyone in the vicinity of him would become instantly aroused, and unfortunately, he was no exception.

Thankfully, though, he was able to control himself enough to not embarrass himself with an obvious erection around the damned bird. Sighing almost inaudibly, he tried to refrain from rubbing his forehead or the bridge of his nose to assuage his oncoming headache. He really hated having to host these kinds of events. He didn't even like going to them though he was required to in order to keep up appearances. He shook his head and looked at the retreating Foxes. Even with his superior eye sight he could barely make them out. If it weren't for their mass of silver hair, he probably wouldn't have been able to tell it was them. 'Get to know her, Takai? You must be out of your mind,' he thought idly.

Meanwhile, Lynn was happily skipping ahead of her father, anxious now to get to the Market, wondering what all she would see and possibly eat. While she could be a picky eater, she found that in her Fox form, pretty much everything tasted better and she liked things that she didn't like as a human before. Kurama and Fury merely talked among themselves, keeping an eye on Lynn. She occasionally contributed to the conversation but mostly she just kept turning to tell them to "hurry it the hell up", at which point they would just chuckle and catch up, only to get separated again as she skipped further ahead.

When they finally made it to the Market, Lynn felt her excitement overflow, which showed by how high her ears stood up as well as her tail standing straight up and swishing from side to side in her excitement. She seriously wanted to run off and look at all the pretty things that were likely to be there. Jumping in place as she waited for her father and Kurama to catch up, she tried to see what all there was without running off. "Go ahead Feara. We'll catch up. Let me know if you find something you like," Fury said when he noticed her bouncing in place. Lynn looked to her father, pure excitement flowing through her. "Are you sure Father?" she asked.

He smiled and nodded and shooed her off with a wave of his hand. Grinning, she sped off. "Just make sure to raise your Youkai if you get into trouble so we can find you!" Fury shouted after her, watching as she waved back letting him know that she heard. Fury shook his head at his daughters' antics and turned to Kurama. "She's something, isn't she?" Kurama smiled and nodded. "That she is Uncle. And you can't say no to her either, Uncle. You're going to spoil her at this rate." "Heh," Fury laughed out. "Isn't that what fathers are for? Spoiling their only child that they haven't seen in twenty-four years?" "Well, yes. Though I daresay that you would spoil her even if she had grown up here a full blooded Fox." "Indeed," Fury agreed.

They spent the rest of the day following the trail Lynn left behind, thinking they caught up with her at several points only to discover that she had already flitted off to another stall. When they finally did catch up to Lynn, she happily took them back to several stalls that she had found something she liked in and asked them to hold onto for her until she could get her father to pay for it. She found many things that she liked, she later told them, but she chose the ones she wanted most and had them hold it for her and tried to keep the prices to a minimum.

Then she took them to several food stalls, trying all manner of different things. After that, she finally calmed down enough to look at the different stalls with them both, occasionally finding things in the different stalls that caught her interest. When they came upon the stall that sold weaponry, she only glanced at it at first, but then she saw something that caught her eye and walked over to it, not realizing that Fury and Kurama hadn't noticed her stopping. She looked at the beautiful sword that was nearly the length of her arm, which had intricate designs of vines and small flowers on the blade itself. The hilt itself was wrapped tightly with violet cloth and looked as if it would fit well into the hand of a female. Considering that the sheath displayed below it was also violet and had the same designs as the blade only with green vines and pink flowers, she was relatively sure it was made for a girl.

Fury and Kurama had only gotten a couple of stalls away before they realized that Lynn was no longer following and stopped, looking around for her. Kurama found her first and nudged his Uncle, pointing her out to him when he had his attention. Fury and Kurama looked at each other before shrugging and walking back over to her. "Find something you like, love?" Fury asked, noticing her fixated gaze. Following her gaze, he found the object of her affection. "That's quite a beautiful blade, Feara," he murmured, approving her taste in weaponry, at least on this front. "This humble merchant is glad to have his work approved!" the merchant crooned when he heard Fury's praise. "How much are you asking for the blade?" Fury asked, startling Lynn out of her stupor.

"Oh, Father, there is no need! You've already bought me so much! As much as I like the sword, it's likely to cost way too much!" "Hush now, Feara. I told you, money isn't an issue." He looked back to the merchant, ignoring Feara's "But, Father," and waited patiently for the merchant to tell him the price. "Fifty-two thousand, one hundred and twenty yen," the merchant said, causing Lynn's mouth to drop. She knew that in terms of money, if it were US currency, one dollar would go a long way in foreign countries, but she didn't know how much, so she couldn't say for sure whether the guy was just spouting an outrageous price or if that was a good deal or not, but fifty-two grand sounded like way too much to be spending on a sword, even if she did like it. "Father!" she tried to protest, but he ignored her again and pulled out a bag from his pouch that held several priceless golden goblets and handed the man three of them. "Will this be enough?" he asked.

Now it was the merchant's turn to have his mouth drop. That was more than enough apparently as he eagerly took the goblets from Fury and waved for him to take the sword. "Father, that was much too much!" Lynn protested again even as Fury grabbed the sword and its sheath and sheathing the blade, testing its weight as he did. Satisfied, he handed her the blade. She took it reluctantly, feeling bad that he was spending that much money on her. "Lynn, dear, really. It's ok. Uncle wouldn't have bought it if he couldn't afford it. We aren't as rich as Lord Sesshomaru, but we aren't dirt poor either. Don't feel bad about it, ok?" "Ok," she said quietly, still rather upset. She threaded the sword between her body and a strand of the sash at her waist on her left side.

When it got closer to night time, they began heading back, Lynn once again bouncing ahead of them full of energy, only this time it was nervous energy. She had never been to a Ball, or even a dance other than Homecoming and Prom in high school, and even then, she didn't dance well. Though she was sure that with the help from Kurama and her father, as well as that of her own Youkai, that she would be fine. She nervously chewed on her lip as they made it back to the Palace and retired to their room to get ready for the Ball. 'This is going to be a long night…'

A/N: Woo! Done! I could have continued to make it a longer chapter to make it 15 pages for chapter five, but the Ball scene is coming up and I'd rather cut it off here and save the entirety of the Ball scene for the next chapter. Tell me how you liked my made up Cardinal Lords-minus Koga of course. I'm not entirely sure Koga is a Cardinal Lord, but he is for this story! Lol! Anywho, I want to say thank you to everyone who reads this, as well as immortal-lover14 who reviewed after I started writing chapter 5, otherwise I'd've said thanks at the beginning and I was being lazy and decided to put it here instead of going all the way back up and put it up there. Heh. Anyway, please read and review! Oh, and Merry Christmas! Or Happy Holidays! Or whatever your holiday religion happens to be!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Dude, seriously. Like the 6th chapter…and I'm super stoked! And no, Stuff2Eat, I don't want anyone to die. I mean, if all my readers died, I'd have no one else to leave me awesome comments (course I get naggings from Lynn to write some more in real life so does that count? Lol). Anywho, as I said last chapter, I thought about continuing the chapter for another couple of pages, but I didn't want to cut it off in the middle of the Ball scene and just like leave you guys hanging wondering what the hell was going to happen (though with all the proclaiming I do that I hate cliffys, I sure leave you guys with a lot of them XD) during the ball, so this chapter is dedicated strictly to the Ball ceremony. Hope you guys enjoy it! And remember, reviews fuel the plot bunnies! Love you guys!

P.S.-Oh, and if you haven't already seen the links to Lynn's outfit, I will be reposting all links at the end of the chapter again so that you will know what I'm talking about. Just wanted to let you know.

_Previously: When it got closer to night time, they began heading back, Lynn once again bouncing ahead of them full of energy, only this time it was nervous energy. She had never been to a Ball, or even a dance other than Homecoming and Prom in high school, and even then, she didn't dance well. Though she was sure that with the help from Kurama and her father, as well as that of her own Youkai, that she would be fine. She nervously chewed on her lip as they made it back to the Palace and retired to their room to get ready for the Ball. 'This is going to be a long night…'_

Lynn found herself getting more and more nervous even as she readied herself for the masquerade Mating Ball. She didn't know how much more tension she could handle. She was even more nervous given the fact that she didn't like dancing except around her friends. Kurama and her father had taught her the necessary dancing at intervals during her training, but she didn't feel confident enough to be doing those intricate dances in front of literally hundreds of demons. Let alone in front of the demon Lord of the West, Lord Sesshomaru.

"Feara, love, calm yourself. It's just a Ball dear. More people will be talking with each other than dancing anyway," her father said in a calming voice to his agitated daughter. Each of them were mostly ready. Lynn herself only had her make up to do and she'd be done. Her father and Kurama only needed their masks and they'd be ready to go. They were just relaxing in their chambers until it was time to go to the Ball. Which wouldn't be much longer now. "Yes, but what if someone wants to dance? I'd probably end up killing them with my clumsiness," she fretted until Fury caught her arm as she paced by him for what seemed like the thousandth time and pulled her into his lap.

He and Kurama, who was still in his Youko form, were both wearing their traditional outfits for occasions such as this. They both were wearing black flat shoes made out of special demon silk, white silk pants cinched around their ankles and long sleeved kimono like tops that fell to their ankles and resembled Kuramas' fighting top only in black with spatterings of silver stars that seemed to twinkle with their every movement. Over each of their hearts was the symbol for their clan (and I'm totally pulling this out of thin air here…not sure what other symbol could possibly be used in this instance), a howling Silver Fox, in Fox form of course, with a blue crescent moon over it, as if it were howling at the moon, showing that they were from the Silver Fox clan and that they served the West. Though the Silver Fox adorning her fathers' breast held a slight difference than Kuramas'. His was bigger and had at least twelve tails-which she'd heard her father had in his true form-whereas Kurama only had nine and was slightly smaller than her fathers. She assumed it showed their ranks among their clan.

She instinctively snuggled deeper into her fathers' arms, sighing in contentment as his Youkai flared out in a calming manner and soothed her anxiousness. "I hope she isn't going to be this anxious then entire two weeks we are here," Kurama said, mostly to himself. Course, he only realized his mistake after he said it. "TWO WEEKS?!" Lynn shrieked, instantly clambering from her fathers' lap-who shot a glare at Kurama for his tactlessness- and started pacing again. "Two weeks?" she repeated in shock though at a lower decibel. "What the fuck am I supposed to do to keep people from asking me to dance for two weeks? I don't wanna dance! I mean, I know I'm rather sociable, but I don't dance!"

"Feara, sweetheart, come here," Fury said, trying to get her mind off of it but jumped when she whirled on him and pointed a finger at him. "You didn't tell me we'd be here for two weeks! I only thought a few days at the most! I can't do this! I-I'm going home, now. I shouldn't have come here," she said in nervousness and shock, twirling and heading towards the door, not having noticed that she had disrespected her father both with her pointing and yelling at him, though Fury didn't hold it against her as he didn't tell her about the time frame, knowing she was nervous enough to begin with. He was actually rather hoping that she wouldn't notice that he hadn't said anything and that the two weeks would pass without incident.

'Obviously not,' Fury thought bemusedly as he used his demonic speed and reached Lynn at the same time as Kurama and both to her into their arms, holding her silver and blue clad body close. "Calm yourself," Fury said again and let his Youkai pulse out of his body in calming waves. Kurama did the same though his wasn't as effective as that of a parent, but it certainly helped. "I didn't tell you about it because I knew it would only stress you out more. I know you don't want to be in front of that many demons, dancing or otherwise, but you have to trust that I won't let any harm come to you. Not to mention, Lord Sesshomaru will have anyone's head if they dare to cause problems within his home."

Lynn literally whimpered in anxiety but tried to calm herself. "Come, Lynn dear," Kurama said, grabbing her hands and dragging her to a vanity that had been brought in shortly after they had left for the market and sat her on the small stool in front of it. "Let us put on your paint, ok?" Lynn relaxed a bit. Make-up was something she was familiar with and she closed her eyes, letting Kurama do as he pleased. Lynn was already beautiful in his opinion, but he wanted to accentuate that beauty, so he dabbed some coral colored paint onto her lips giving them a shimmery look as well as made her look quite kissable…well, more so than usual. He then set about working on her eyes, carefully using a charcoal pencil and outlining the bottom of her eyes with it and found an odd clear concoction that one of the females of the clan had given her when she found out her desire to wear paints and used it to coat her lashes with, making them thicker and longer, though he didn't see the need for it as they were already quite long and beautiful on their own.

Without having to be told, Lynn closed her eyes and let Kurama start with the eye shadow. He carefully dabbed some silver shadow onto the brush that Lynn had made for the powder itself and brushed it carefully over her eyelids, completely covering them. Once he finished with both eyes, he brushed off the remaining silver off onto a rag specifically for that and dabbed it in the white powder next, gently brushing the color over the silver to up under her silver brows, surprised that the colors didn't blend in with her eye brows. Finished with that color, he brushed it off and dabbed the brush in the final color, black, and brushed the powder over the silver about half way over her eye out to the corners and in the crease between her brown and eye and gently brushed the color up under the outer corner of her eyes.

Setting aside the powder once he was finished, he carefully took up the charcoal pencil and lightly dipped it in a black concoction and lightly drew a line right above her upper lashes.** Once he finished, he stepped back and admired his work. Nodding to himself, he checked to see if she had already done her nails and smiled as he saw that both her toe nails and finger nails where covered in the special blue paint as well as the something shimmery at the tips to make them sparkle in the lights. Smirking, he carefully placed the silver butterfly mask** on her face and tied it back with sheer silk strings so it would blend in more with her silver hair and would look as if held there by magic.

Kurama finally stepped back and looked his cousin up and down with a slight smile. "I do believe we are going to have quite a few suitors looking for your hand, Feara, love," Fury said, smiling at his daughters' beauty, which was much like her mothers. Scowling, she scrunched up her nose at the thought but sighed and stood. "Is it time to go?" she asked, but noticed that she needn't have bothered with the question as her father and Kurama both put on their masks that they had bought a while back. Compared to hers, they were simple silver metal half masks that covered their eyes and the bridges of their noses and shimmered in the light as they were encrusted with dozens of small diamonds and were tied back with the same type of string that hers was.

Nervously, Lynn took the hand her father offered her and they made their way out of the room and to the Ceremony Hall for the Mating Ball. Gripping her fathers' hand tightly, she tried to ignore the stares she was receiving, both from the males and females, most of which were guards or servants, but there were a few dignitaries making their way to the Hall openly staring at her, including a handsome demon that looked and smelled as if he might be some kind of reptile demon. He was wearing nothing but what looked to be like an Egyptian wrap around his waist with a golden sash holding it up with what looked like a golden clasp holding the sash in place. He wore a golden half mask and necklaces as well as bracelets and golden arm bands on his upper arms and was wearing gold colored sandals that had thin straps wrapping around his lower legs and tied in the back. His white blonde hair that was tipped in black looked to have silver paint combed through it as well.

Given he was half naked, it wasn't hard to spot several places on the demon where it looked as if he had silvery shimmery scales. The scales themselves seemed to only be on the strong line of his chin and extended down his neck a little, over his shoulders and even a bit in the crease around his armpits, down his sides to his hips and flaring out to almost his belly button and she assumed the same was on his back, the inside of his elbows, the tops of his hands and feet and behind his knees. The most fascinating thing she saw about said demon was his eyes. They seemed to be a silver grey color. They were a rather unique color, much like her own and her clans, as well as Sesshomarus'.

She sidled closer to her father as they passed, a little unnerved that the demon seemed to be undressing her with his eyes-though she hadn't really left much to the imagination with her strapless dress that pushed her breasts up until they were almost spilling out of her top. The demon next to him, who was his father if she went by scent, didn't seem to notice either his child or the people passing him as he talked with what seemed to be a white leopard demon with the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen.

Kurama, who had noticed her agitated scent, glanced in the direction she was looking, and subtly shifted closer to her as he saw the predatory gleam in the demons eyes and took her other hand, drawing her attention back to him. "Don't concern yourself with the dragon, Lynn love," he whispered where only she and her father, if he chose to listen, would hear. She found that he indeed was listening as he squeezed her hand in reassurance and let his Youkai wrap around her own to comfort her.

She was shocked when they finally entered the Ceremony Hall, being introduced as they walked in as if they were royalty or something and looked around. The room was huge and everywhere she looked there were streamers of silver with gold ribbons holding them in place and there were many tables, both long and short, with shimmery silver table clothes on them and plush wooden chairs situated all around each table for comfort. Most of the tables where laden with all types of foods and drinks, while the others were occupied by the visiting Lords and Ladies of each land. There were tall pots of white flowers of different varieties scattered throughout the room and off to one corner there seemed to be demon musicians as well as dancers who were giving the entertainment.

Not to mention the flickering lights from the many, many candles and torches and even a couple of fire places throughout the room, keeping the cool air of the evening at bay as well as reflecting off all the white marble of the room. Seriously, the whole room itself was made of what looked like white marble that was so shiny she was surprised no one was slipping on the floor itself it looked so slick. "Kurama," she said quietly, continuing when she saw she had his attention, "Just how loaded is Sesshomaru if he can afford a huge ass room like this, made of nothing but white marble?" Kurama chuckled a bit. "Lynn dear, it's not just _any _marble. It's a special marble that comes from his mothers' side of the family, though this Palace was made way before Lord Sesshomarus' mother and his Lord Father were ever together."

"Indeed," Fury chimed in. "I do believe Lord Inu no Taisho had the marble expressly shipped here when he began building his Palace. I do believe that is how our late Lord and the first Lady of the West came to know each other." "Late? You mean, Sesshomaru's father is dead?" Fury nodded and she frowned a bit. "How long ago?" she asked curiously. "Well, in human terms, it would be a rather long time, but in demon terms, as we live quite a long time usually, it's rather short. He died a little over 200 years ago I believe. Around the time Lord Sesshomarus' younger half brother was born, if I remember right."

"Speaking of his half-brother, I do believe that is him over there," Fury said, pointing across the room to a red clad male in bare feet and no mask, white pointy dog ears adorning his silver head. She could even see that his eyes were the same color as Sesshomarus', if a little less bright. "He looks bored," she noted. "Yes, I imagine he would be. He isn't one for these kinds of things, even more so given the fact that pretty much every demon here abhors half-demons, half-humans. Even Lord Sesshomaru at one time held a disliking for them. I'm not exactly sure what he feels now as he seems to get along with Lord Inuyasha now, though he hasn't claimed his as his brother. He even has a young human ward by the name of Rin that he takes care of. That would be her standing beside the human girl next to Lord Inuyasha."

Lynn looked across the room again and noticed the rather odd group of people standing next to Inuyasha. The first she noticed was a girl with black hair and brown eyes wearing a white kimono top and red baggy pants with her hair tied back. Tilting her head curiously, she muttered out, "She looks kind of like a priestess." "She is, I believe," Kurama agreed, though she hadn't really been asking. The little girl next to her was dressed in a pretty blue kimono with what looked like pink cherry blossom petals scattered throughout it and a light pink obi with full cherry blossom blooms on it in a darker pink spread throughout. She wore no mask and had some of her hair tied up in a side ponytail. As the girl wasn't facing her, she couldn't tell what color her eyes where. Next to her was what looked to be a young fox who was barefoot and was wearing a light blue plain kimono with a darker blue obi, his fuzzy little tail sticking out of the back.

Next to her was another black haired and brown eyed girl wearing what looked to be a formal kimono that was a light pink in color and had what seemed like red roses blooming all over it. The obi itself was just a plain light pink, lighter than even the kimono itself. On her shoulder was a two-tailed Neko who idly seemed to be paying attention to everything at once. Next to her was a man with several earrings in one ear, his violet eyes twinkling in mischief, his dark hair tied back in a small ponytail at the back of his head. He was wearing a dark purple kimono with a silver obi, both of them plain in color, and looked as if he were about to pull something on the unsuspecting woman in front of him.

"The wolf demon next to Lord Inuyasha's group," Fury said, drawing her attention from the man who was sneaking his hand towards the girls' bottom, "Is the Lord of the East, Lord Kouga. From what I understand, Lord Inuyasha and he are somewhat of comrades. The demonness next to him-" he winced as the male that had been reaching for the woman's' bottom got slapped and everyone heard it reverberate throughout the Hall, "Is none other than Lady Ayame, his mate." Lynn looked back over to the two wolf demons her father was telling her about. The male, Kouga, didn't dress up for the event, or at least she didn't think so. He was barefoot and wore what seemed to be brown wolf furs around his lower legs, his waist to just above his knees and around his lower arms. She wondered if the fur wasn't somehow his own as it seemed to match his tail that flicked back and forth. His ears were pointed and his dark hair was tied in a pony tail and wore a head band around his head. His green eyes were sparkling with merriment at the pain of the male human.

Then there was the last person hanging around who they were assuming was Inuyasha, another wolf who looked different from Kouga, yet almost the same. She was barefoot and had furs in the same places as Kouga, only she had furs wrapping around her upper chest as well covering what looked to be well endowed breasts. Her eyes were a light blue (at least from what I remember, if not, that's what they are now lol-same goes for Kouga too) and her white hair was pulled back into pigtails on either side of her head and she had a white flower adorning her hair. She smacked the wolf next to her as he laughed at the human.

Shaking her head at the antics of the humans across the room, she looked back at Kurama. "Hey, Kurama. Isn't one of those humans the one you were talking about was from the future?" "Indeed. The priestess is the one that is supposed to be from the future. Of course, I could be wrong. Would you like me to come with you to speak with them while Uncle talks to the other visiting dignitaries?" Kurama asked her quietly. "Sure," she nodded before turning to her father and letting him know as he had started talking to one of the Lords from a different clan in the West. He shooed them off and continued his conversation.

"Inuyasha!" They heard the priestess shout at the silver haired male of their group, most likely in regards to bopping the fox child on the head for whatever real or imagined thing that he said. "Keh! He deserved it, Kagome! Lil' runt needs to learn his place!" "I know my place, dog-boy, and that's where it's always been; with Kagome!" "Why you little-" "Inuyasha, enough! Don't make me say the word!" "Damn it, Kagome! This isn't fair, wench! We're mated so why the hell do I gotta still wear this stupid thing! My blood hasn't gotten out of control in ages!" Lynn looked between the two of them, wondering curiously what they were talking about. "I'll explain to you later," Kurama whispered in her pointy ear and she nodded before clearing her throat, causing the whole of the group to look at her.

Lynn shifted a bit nervously at having so much attention on her at once, but before she could say anything, the one she assumed was Inuyasha, spoke. "What the hell do ya want, Fox?" "Inuyasha!" the girl Kagome hissed out, smacking his arm. "Ow, wench!" "Oh get over yourself, that didn't hurt. I'm sorry," she said, turning to the two demons before them. "Excuse my mate, he doesn't have very good manners." "So I see," Lynn muttered and Inuyasha bristled. Before he could do anything, a muttered "Sit!" came from Kagome's mouth and sent the boy face first into the marble, luckily not breaking it. "It's nice to meet all of you," Lynn said politely and bowed a bit at them.

"My name is Johnnie-Lynn Carter, or that's my human name. You can call me Lynn. Or Youko Feara, which is my demon name. And this is my cousin, Shuichi Minamino or Youko Kurama." "You're a human?" Kagome asked incredulously. Then her mouth widened in an O shape as if she just remembered something. "Oh, I'm sorry. You just don't look…human. At any rate, where are my manners? This brute here," she gestured to the male getting up from the floor, "is my mate, Inuyasha. I'm sure you can tell he's a half-demon. I'm the Shikon Priestess, Kagome. The little ones here are Lord Sesshomaru's ward, Rin and our adopted son, Shippo who is a fox kit." Both of the little ones waved at her and she squealed at how adorable they were. Before she even thought about what she was doing, she kneeled down and scooped them into her arms, hugging them tightly. "You are so cute!" she squealed.

Kurama chuckled and looked to Kagome. "Forgive my little cousin, Lady Kagome. She adores children of all types." Kagome chuckled at this and waved it off. "It's quiet alright. I'm sure the both of them enjoy the attention." After a few moments, Lynn pulled away and looked back at Kagome. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "It's quite alright. Shall I continue?" Lynn nodded her consent and Kagome nodded and gestured to the female in the pretty kimono next to her. "This is Sango of the Demon Slayer clan. The Neko on her shoulder is Kilala, and yes she's a demon Neko. The pervert Monk behind her in the purple kimono is Miroku. And the two wolves behind him is Kouga, Lord of the Eastern Lands as well as the Eastern wolf tribe and his mate, Ayame of the Northern (if I remember correctly) wolf tribe. It's nice to meet you," she said, bowing to them both, the others except Inuyasha mimicked Kagome.

"Sorry to bother you," Lynn said, smiling at the fox kit who was showing Rin some tricks with his fox magic. "I was just curious. My cousin here told me that you were from the future time period." Kagome blinked and looked to Kurama curiously. "But how did you come to know that?" she asked in shock. Inuyasha growled and Kurama held up his hands peacefully. "I mean no offense. I just heard rumors from most all of the villages I've been through and they spoke of a girl dressed in weird clothes. I was curious so I investigated. I'm rather good at sneaking around-occupational hazard I'm afraid-so it's no surprise that you didn't notice me. I stuck around for a couple of days in the village that is near Inuyasha's forest in my human form so I'd be less noticeable. I heard your group and the Lady Kaede often speaking of you being from a different time. I was curious about many things, but I had decided that I shouldn't overstay my welcome and my curiosity was somewhat sated so I returned home. Forgive me for the deception," Kurama said and bowed.

"Keh, I don't recall seeing you around the village. And ya don't smell human, so apology not accepted," Inuyasha snarled. Kurama just continued to smile. "I would imagine not. I am half-demon in a way. Long story short, I was killed a couple hundred of years ago and I wasn't ready to die just yet so I sent my soul away. My soul, surprisingly enough, inserted itself into an unborn human child. So when I was born from my human mother, my Youkai was dormant within my human form. It took a while for my Youkai to come to the surface while I was growing up, but it finally merged with my human soul, so now I'm both human and demon. But my scent is that of a Silver Fox, which is what you likely smell. My human form smells of roses if I remember correctly. Oh, and I'm sure you saw me at least a couple of times during my stay there. My human form has red hair and green eyes."

"Oh, yeah!" Sango said. "I remember now. You were a gardener for hire!" "Yes, that was my cover at the time," Kurama agreed. "Yeah, I remember a red headed guy that smelled like roses staying for a few days in the village. That was you?" Shippo asked curiously. "Indeed, little fox." "Keh," Inuyasha muttered. "Well, with that established, why do you ask?" Kagome said after a moment. "Oh. I was curious to see if you could tell me what time frame this is. You see, apparently my situation is like Kurama's and I was reborn in a human. The only difference is, I was born in America in 1996 (for the sake of argument that's going to be the current time frame as I'm not entirely sure what year it is in the actual anime let alone the Final Act series) and he was born in this time frame."

"You were born in America?!" Kagome gasped out. "How is it you understand Japanese? I mean, in our time frame I could see that, but in this time frame everyone speaks Japanese." Lynn blinked. "Huh. That is a good question. I mean, I know a tiny little bit, but I hadn't really noticed that I could both understand and speak it. I guess it was my Youkai. So you are from my time frame then?" "Huh? Oh, yes, it would seem so. That's so cool! Someone else from my time! But I wonder how you got here. I mean, the Bone Eater's Well has been closed other than the last time when it let me through. Do you know how you got here? Oh! I'm sorry, I never answered your original question. This is the Sengoku period. Oh, and this is Japan in modern times, so you probably wouldn't have known what I was talking about anyway. Heh," Kagome said, bonking herself lightly on her head.

Lynn nodded. "I had thought as much. As for how I got here, I'm not sure. I went to sleep in a meadow and woke up in one similar to the one I fell asleep in. If I remember correctly, it wasn't too far from the village you stay at, if Sesshomaru wasn't lying." "You've already met my ice prick of a brother before now?" Inuyasha said in disbelief. "Un. When I first came to this time. I had just kicked a swamp demons ass when I met him. He was rather…what's the word… stuck up I guess. Or high and mighty." "Yeah, that sounds like 'im," Inuyasha muttered, grunting when Kagome lightly socked him in the gut. "Now, now. You know he's calmed down some." "Be that as it may, Lady Kagome," Miroku said, "it is, unfortunately, true." "Yeah. Kurama said I got lucky that I lived when I both insulted and picked a fight with him and am still standing." "You fought with him?" the adults of the group said in unison, gaping at her. "Yes. But at the time, I wasn't aware of what I was doing."

"What do you mean, if I may ask, My Lady?" Miroku said politely. "Oh, I'm sorry. I only learned of my Youkai powers about two months ago. Apparently because I was in a place that didn't have any Youkai-" "-Or something was repressing your Youkai to where you couldn't use it," Kurama added in. "-my Youkai didn't feel the need to show itself. I occasionally heard things, but at the time, I wasn't aware of it being my Youkai trying to communicate with me. When I arrived here two months ago and I fought with Sesshomaru, I blacked out and apparently fought with Sesshomaru in my Youko form. I didn't remember it at the time, but shortly after I started trying to access my Youkai it became clear to me and I remembered, including the attack of Naraku on my village when I was born."

"Heh. No need to worry 'bout that slimy bastard. He's in the darkest pits of hell right now," Inuyasha said with a smirk. "I suppose one could say that," Miroku said casually. "What do you mean?" Lynn asked. "Well," Kagome answered, "as you know, I'm the Shikon Priestess. I accidentally shattered the jewel-oh dear, I forgot. You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" "Not exactly," Lynn said. "The Jewel of Four Souls," Kurama said before Kagome could speak. "It's a rather powerful jewel, or was. I heard rumors of that as well. The jewel itself gives the owner of it awesome powers. The only problem was that it didn't cater to one specific side, good or bad. If a pure hearted person held it, they would be granted powers if they so wished. But more often than not, it was demons that went after it trying to gain more power. I do believe that is what Naraku was after when he attacked our village. It had been in our village at one time before it went to a Priestess to protect. If I remember correctly, the last to be in charge of protecting it was-"

"-Kikyou," the Inu group murmured. Kurama nodded. "Yes. I had heard that it was burned with her body. I assume that it is how it came to be in your possession, Lady Kagome. You must be her reincarnation." Kagome nodded. "Yes. Apparently I was born with the jewel inside of me. At any rate, it was torn out of me by a Youkai called Mistress Centipede and then it got stolen by a crow demon shortly after. I didn't know how to use a bow and arrow then so I couldn't hit it, but I used its foot to shoot it with, as it could call its missing body parts back to it, and managed to hit it. In the process, I accidentally shattered it and shards went everywhere." "Then Momma Kagome and Inuyasha-papa went looking for the shards and that's how they found me."

"And me," Sango echoed. "And me," Miroku chimed in. "Anyway, we were all looking to complete the jewel for our own reasons and also to kill Naraku. Inuyasha at the time wanted to become full demon, though I'm not sure when that changed. I wanted to fix it because I felt bad for breaking it and considered it my duty to fix it. Shippo came with us simply because he had nowhere else to go because his parents were killed several years ago. Sango came with us to avenge her Demon Slayer clan who were deceived by Naraku and to get her younger brother Kohaku back from Narakus' clutches. Miroku here had a wind tunnel in his hand that his grandfather was cursed with by Naraku and had been passed down the males of his line. And Kouga wanted to avenge his dead pack mates killed by one of Narakus' detachments, Kagura the Wind Witch."

"We finally defeated Naraku who had managed to complete the jewel, but he had sucked poor Kagome into the jewel with him to fight an eternal battle with her. Like Midiriko did, who was the creator of the Shikon jewel. Inuyasha managed to find her and save her from the darkness and Kagome managed to destroy the jewel for good by wishing for it to disappear, taking Naraku with it. She was sent home to her time for a while until it let her pass through one more time and now here we are," Sango finished up. "Wow, sounds like I missed a good fight." "I'll say. I'm rather curious as to how you woulda faired against dog-breath there, or even his brother Lord Sesshomaru," Kouga said, yelping when Ayame hit him for being mean.

"You wanna say that to my face, ya mangy wolf?" Inuyasha snarled. "Inuyasha!" Kagome said warningly. Lynn watched in amusement as the group playfully argued amongst themselves. "Lady Feara, would you like to play with Rin and Shippo?" a small shy voice said gaining Lynn's attention. Looking down, she noticed Rin and Shippo looking up at her with hope shinning in their eyes. "Of course, I would love to play with you, Rin dear. Kurama, I'm going with the children ok?" Kurama chuckled and waved her off, getting to know the rest of the Inu gang better.

Lynn spent hours playing with Rin and Shippo, thanking them mentally for giving her a reason to not having to dance. Finally, she took a break from playing with them and went to get a drink. She tried her best to ignore the looks she had been getting from the many males, mated or not, and even the glares from both the mated and unmated females of the room. She sipped at some wine that a servant poured for her and stiffened when she felt someone standing behind her. Knowing her luck, it was probably some idiot male trying to sleep with her like usual. "Excuse me, my dear. I happened to notice your beauty and was wondering if I might be able to persuade you to give this humble demon a dance?"

'_I thought as much,_' she thought to herself. '_Here we go,_' she sighed out. Turning with a polite smile on her lips, she faced what she found was a tiger demon. He was rather handsome really. He looked mostly human with orange hair streaked with black stripes. His eyes where a dull golden color. But what caught her attention was his tail, which was idly making its way up her thigh and across her butt, caressing it. Stiffening further, she tried to keep a polite smile on her face as she answered. "I'm sorry, but I'm quiet worn out from playing with the children earlier. I don't think I would be a very good dance partner for you." "That's quiet alright," he said, invading her space and taking the wine goblet from her and setting it on the table before pulling her to him, mashing her body to his, growling softly when her breasts pressed against his chest. One arm remained around her body while the other made its way to her bottom, squeezing one cheek in his hand.

Growling, she reached back and grabbed his hand and squeezed as hard as she could, not letting go until he howled in pain and the bones in his hand broke. He backed away from her, holding his injured hand. "You bitch!" he howled, and anyone who hadn't already been looking at his first howl, gave them their undivided attention now. Lynn's eyes flashed silver with her rising anger, and she grit out, "That was for sexually harassing me!" Raising her manicured hand clenched into a fist, she sent it slamming into his left cheek, jerking his head to the right and sending him flying into the startled crowd of demons, leaving him with a bloody lip and a nice knot on his head from the impact to the floor. "And that was for calling me a bitch for defending myself against your harassment!"

Fury and Kurama shook themselves from their shock and ran to Lynn's side, looking down at the hapless demon who dared to lay a hand on her. "Feara, what happened?" Fury demanded. "That…bastard…was touching my ass with his damned tail and then was force me to dance with him, thinking that if he grabbed me and squeezed me to him that I would be ok with him grabbing my ass with his hand," she growled out, her ears slicked back with her anger and her tail swishing from side to side. "Is this true, Lord Lou?" Sesshomaru asked as he walked up to them.

Lynn looked over at Sesshomaru, anger written all over her face, noticing that while his Youkai aura seemed to radiate anger, his face had its normal stoic look. "M-my L-Lord Sesshomaru, I did nothing! This vicious bitch attacked me for no reason!" the tiger demon groveled. Lynn growled, her eyes flashing again and she instinctually jumped forward to attack the demon again for daring to lie to get her in trouble with Sesshomaru. Thankfully, Kurama and Fury each wrapped an arm around her waist and held her back, rubbing soothing circles on her back to calm her. Fury and Kurama both looked down at the obviously lying demon at their feet with rage clear in their eyes. If it weren't for the fact that they were holding her back, they themselves would have attacked him.

"He's lying," Inuyasha said from behind them, coming to her defense. Sesshomaru merely looked over his shoulder at his half-brother. Inuyasha held his gaze, his eyes showing Sesshomaru that he wasn't lying. "Indeed, My Lord. I must admit, I myself saw what happened. It happened as the Lady Feara said," Miroku chimed in from Inuyasha's side. "From what I saw," Sango said, sipping at the goblet she had come to get shortly before the incident occurred, "she was politely refusing to dance with him, informing him that she had just been playing with the children and didn't think she'd be a good dance partner for him. He didn't want to take no for an answer and took her drink from her before pulling her to him. She wasn't lying when she said he was assaulting her. He did so first with his tail, and she was trying to be polite. Then with his hand when she refused."

"M-m-my Lord! You can't possibly believe the words of that half-breed imbecile and his disgusting pack of humans over your own subject could you?!" Lou screeched out. Inuyasha sneered and was about to attack at the insult but Kagome, who had come up behind him to find out what was going on, stopped him with a hand to his arm and he calmed himself, letting Sesshomaru handle the demon. "As it stands, Lord Lou, while I do not know the female Fox, she is a subject as well. And in actuality, half-breed or humans or not, they are also my subjects," Sesshomaru said dispassionately before looking to the gathered demons. "Can any hear testify that Lord Lou did not assault one Silver Fox Youko Feara?"

Lou gulped when the demons nearby remained silent. They weren't stupid, it seemed, for they knew if they lied for the sake of the tiger that they as well as Lou would be punished, either spending their remaining time in the Western Palace dungeons or killed for their transgressions. Sesshomaru smirked a bit, one that let the tiger know that he was about to be in a world of pain. "Hikaru, Kaoru (I'm borrowing the twins from Ouran; I own neither of them but I call dibs on their made up demon form)," he called. Moments later, twin Neko demons appeared next to him, their golden eyes twinkling with amusement. Both had short red hair, each demon had their hair parted to different sides.

Orange cat ears flickered to and fro on their heads and their long orange tails swished idly side to side as they hugged each other close. They wore matching dark blue kimonos and light black armor, with their katanas strapped to their sides, held in place with a sword holster that angled down one side of their hips. "Yes, My Lord?" they purred in unison. "Take Lord Lou to the dungeons for sexual harassment. I will deal with him after the Mating Ball is concluded," Sesshomaru ordered calmly. "Yes, Lord," they again said in unison and dragged off a struggling Lou, begging for Sesshomaru to spare him as they left the hall with him. The twins' chuckles at how pitiful the tiger sounded floated into the silent hall.

Sesshomaru suddenly clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back to himself. "This Sesshomaru apologizes for the disturbance. Please, continue." He waved a hand at the demons playing music, gesturing for them to continue. Once everyone had returned to mingling and dancing, Sesshomaru turned to Fury, Kurama and Feara. Eyeing the still irate Feara, he murmured softly, "This Sesshomaru hopes that you are no worse for the wear, Lady Feara." Shaking her head, Lynn burrowed into her father's arms. "She's fine, My Lord," Fury assured him. "She's just upset. It'll pass in a bit." Sesshomaru inclined his head in understanding. "My Lord," Miroku said, popping around Kurama. "How have you been? It's been quite a while since you last visited the village."

Sesshomaru mentally rolled his eyes at the lecherous Monks' attempts to change the subject. "Hn. This Sesshomaru has been well. Other than the mundane paper work I have to do every day on top of getting things settled for this wretched event, things have been comparatively normal." "Heh, I'm surprised he answered you, Houshi. And with more than one word," Inuyasha said, amusement in his voice. "Silence yourself, half-breed. This Sesshomaru has no desire to fight with you here, but if you persist I will." "Please ignore your brother, Sesshomaru-nii-san," Kagome said, oblivious to the irate look Sesshomaru sent her, not to mention the disturbed look Inuyasha was giving her.

Lynn stayed close to her father for the remainder of the night, talking with a few of the dignitaries, Sesshomaru himself and even Inuyasha and his friends. They had been talking with Sesshomaru for a while now when Lynn heard it. She heard Rin crying. Looking towards the sound, Lynn found another dog demon yanking on Rin's arm, ignoring the childs' cries and pleas to stop, that she was hurting her. Apparently so did Sesshomaru, her father, and Kurama as they had turned towards the sound as well. Kurama and Fury, looked from the crying child, glancing at a livid red eyed Sesshomaru, to Lynn, who they knew without a doubt would be attacking very soon, only to find she wasn't there.

'Uh oh,' they both thought, looking around for her. Before even Sesshomaru could act on the situation concerning the demonness, they heard another scream, this time from the demonness herself. She was being held upside down from the ceiling by vines that had crawled up from the pots onto the marble columns nearest her and had her arms being pulled from vines that came up from the floor itself, the flowers that had been nothing but docile in the pot originally was now overflowing and continuing to grow, wrapping its vines around different parts of the demon and pulling. Sesshomaru looked from the cursing and screaming demonness to look for his ward.

He found her sniffling in the arms of Feara and blinked in surprise as he noticed that her eyes where glowing silver, her aura a dark purple around her, indicating that she was a strong demonness herself. Much stronger than the idiot who had dared to attack his ward, he mused. _"Like her aura,"_ he heard his Youkai rumble in his mind. "She's a half-breed," he informed his Youkai within his mind, letting it know in no uncertain terms that she was off limits, no matter how much it liked her aura. _"She is not,"_ came the reply. Sesshomaru ignored his Youkai and concentrated on the situation at hand.

"You wretched, half-breed Fox!" the Inu demon by the name of Kimiko snarled down at Lynn. "How dare you do this to me! Put me down, now, bitch!" Lynn growled at the Inu bitch who dared to harm a child, her eyes flashing silver again as her vine pulled even harder, beginning to pull the demonness' bones out of place. The woman screamed in pain, spewing even more curses at her. Fury and Kurama hurried over to Lynn, attempting to calm her down even as Sesshomaru stared up the demon, red seeping into his eyes. "Lord Sesshomaru!" the demonness screeched. "Are you going to allow this half-breed to keep me up here?!" Sesshomaru growled. "This Sesshomaru should let her kill you for daring to lay a hand on my ward, you insolent wretch!" he roared, his voice shaking the entire room and those with sensitive hearing had to cover their ears from the pain.

"Feara, love. Let her down and let Lord Sesshomaru handle her," Fury urged her, trying to calm her down even as her aura snapped at him. Kurama was having the same problem. "Lynn, dear, please calm yourself. Lord Sesshomaru will take care of it. This isn't your concern any longer," Kurama tried. "That's right, bitch! Let me go now!" Kimiko roared. Lynn's aura flared, causing the plants to pull harder on her and making her scream as well as startling Fury and Kurama. Sesshomaru merely looked at her, his Youkai clamoring to get to the Fox whose power rivaled his own. Sesshomaru shoved it down, watching curiously as Fury's eyes began to glow silver as well. "Youko Feara," Fury growled out, his Youkai bleeding into his voice. "Release her!"

Lynn jumped, startled that her father would use his Alpha authority on her, let alone in anger. She looked at her father, staring into his furious face for long moments, before she calmed and instantly released the demonness, dropping her like a ton of bricks. Kimiko, who hadn't been expecting the sudden release, plummeted to the ground and landed hard on the back of her neck, startling her and causing her breath to be knocked from her. She lay there gasping for breath as Lynn cooed to the still sniffling Rin. "Lady Kimiko of the Inu Sun clan," Sesshomaru snarled out, his rage getting the better of him momentarily. "You have assaulted this Sesshomarus' ward, and punishment for that alone is death. However, given the circumstances, and the fact that my ward was not permanently harmed, I shall let you live. You are forthwith stripped of your title and banished from my lands. Should you step foot on my land again, you will be slaughtered on the spot, am I understood?"

Kimiko looked up at him in horror. "M-my Lord! You can't possibly mean that! It was an accident!" "Lying bitch!" Lynn seethed, drawing Sesshomaru's attention to her again, internally smirking at the Fox covering one of Rins' ears with one hand and pressing the other to her breast. "I was watching you the moment that this poor baby cried out. The poor child was simply going to her room and you stopped her out of spit for the fact that she's human and grabbed her by the arm when she politely excused herself, trying not to offend you!" "Indeed," Sesshomaru agreed. "You should have known better, both given the fact that I already have one in my dungeons for assault and because Rin is this Sesshomarus' ward, regardless of how human she is, than to attack my ward. Sebastian!" he roared.

A raven demon, bowing at the waist, appeared from the shadows. "Yes, My Lord?" he said silkily, his pitch black hair glinting in the light. "Take this wretch and escort her from my lands," Sesshomaru ordered. "As you wish, My Lord," the raven said, standing up. '_He's gorgeous!_' Lynn found herself thinking. He had black hair that contrasted well with his pale skin. His hair itself was pretty as well, the back cut short with long side bangs hanging on either side of his face. His eyes were a tea color that looked human, but soon flashed into red with cat like slits. Black feathers lined his hair and if it wasn't for the texture, would have blended in. He was wearing a plain black kimono with a silver obi, covered by grey armor. He had a katana at his side as well, but sensing his aura, she had a feeling that he didn't need it much. She also noted that his nails were painted black.

Sebastian walked over to the prone demonness and held his hand out. "Come this way, if you wouldn't mind," Sebastian purred out. Kimiko merely smacked his hand away and stood on her own. "You will regret this, _Lord Sesshomaru_. And you too, half-breed bitch," she growled out between clenched teeth before turning on her heel and heading for the doors. Sebastian followed her out and closed the doors behind him, his cat-ate-the-canary grin still in place. Sighing to himself, he turned to address the Fox only to suddenly find her missing. Fury and Kurama had been watching the raven and hadn't even noticed that Lynn moved.

Sesshomaru heard something at the doors leading into the Western wing of his Palace and turned to look, finding Feara just walking through the doors with Rin. He turned back to Fury and Kurama who had just noticed themselves and made to follow. Sesshomaru held a hand up and stopped them. "Return to the Ball. This Sesshomaru will see to her. Worry not," he said when they exchanged concerned looks. "This Sesshomaru owes her a debt of gratitude for helping my ward, as needless as it was. I will not punish her; she merely acted as a guardian." Fury and Kurama looked relieved, smiling and bowing to Sesshomaru before returning to the festivities. "Please, continue," Sesshomaru said, his voice ringing out before he turned to follow the girls.

He walked through the doors just as Lynn was rounding a corner down the left side of the hallway. It wasn't long before he caught up with her, given his long legs. He followed behind her as she walked into Rin's chambers, smirking internally as she tossed a glance over her shoulder at him. "Rin is sorry to cause the Lady Feara problems," Rin sniffled out. "Nonsense," Sesshomaru said before Lynn could answer. "The Lady Feara chose to help you, Rin. Moreover, the former Lady Kimiko had no right to touch you, let alone pull on your arm as she did. You did nothing wrong Rin," Sesshomaru informed her. Rin gave a watery smile at her Lord and rubbed at her eyes, getting rid of her tears. "That's a good girl, Rin," Lynn cooed as she finally settled down.

Lynn set Rin down and asked her to get her things that she would need for bed. As Rin scurried off to get her things, Lynn turned towards Sesshomaru. "I suppose I should apologize for interfering, given that she is your ward. I wasn't exactly thinking about that when I saw that _bitch_ grab her. I grow easily attached to children and get downright pissed if someone hurts them, especially for no reason," Lynn said quietly. "You have no need to apologize. In fact, I must thank you. The help was unnecessary, but I appreciate it none the less. More so given that most humans, other than my half-breed brothers' followers, would try to convince her to return to them. Most demons, however, don't take kindly to humans and would sooner see them dead than have anything to do with them. Unfortunately, I can't control their hate of humans, but I can control their harming my ward."

Lynn nodded but before she could say anything else, Rin came running back to her with a bright smile on her face that seemed to light up the room, and her things for bed. Sitting Rin on the bed, she carefully brushed out the girls hair as she chattered excitedly about how much fun she had, the incident with the demonness far gone from her mind. Sesshomaru watched as Lynn assisted Rin into her sleeping yukata, growling lightly in the back of his throat as he saw the bruises forming on Rins' arm from where Kimiko had grabbed her. _"We should have killed the bitch. Or better yet, let our future mate kill her for harming our daughter," _his Youkai growled out upon seeing the bruises as well. "She is not our mate. But yes, the bitches death would have suited nicely," Sesshomaru replied to his demon side. He smiled slightly at the thought that his inner Youkai considered their ward their daughter. Incidentally, he quiet felt that way himself.

'I think I should remedy that soon,' he thought to himself as Lynn tucked in his ward. He stepped closer to Rins' bedside and placed a hand on her head gently, in his own affectionate way, bidding her a good night. He followed Lynn out of the door into the hallway and closed it softly behind him, bidding a rabbit demon called Kayko to see to Rin should something be needed. They walked quietly back to the Ceremony hall. Before they entered, Sesshomaru stopped Lynn with a hand to her shoulder. "I was wondering, Fox, if you would perhaps like to dance with this Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru asked softly, rather nervous about his feelings towards the Silver Fox before him. Lynn blushed profusely and stuttered out a strained "W-wh-what?!"

A/N: Ha! Chapter 6! And 16 pages! Woohoo! I only got one review so far for chapter five, but hey, it's still an ongoing story, so I'm hoping to see more reviews soon. Nice reviews are awesome XD. **Anywho, I didn't bother describing the dress, shoes, mask or even the hair overmuch in this chapter, but I'm gonna leave the links again so that you can get an idea of what it looks like in case you didn't see it in chapter 4. Also, I decided to cameo three characters into the story. The Hitachiin twins from Ouran High School Host Club, Hikaru and Kouru, though in this story they aren't Hitachiin and are Neko demons. Also, Sebastian Michaelis from Black Butler or Kuroshitsuji, who was the raven demon (which is actually what he is in Black butler only I don't actually know what his demon form looks like other than he usually has sharp teeth and odd looking sharp pointed hooker boots). I love these characters (including Kurama) so I decided to make them guards in Sesshomaru's employ. Heh. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. More Mating Ball fun coming up in the next chapter. I may even throw in a Sess/Lynn kiss in there somewhere. Maybe. If I can work it in. If not, there's other chapters lol. Ja!

Mask: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/butterfly-mask-2_ .html

Hair: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/hair-designs-1_ .html

Shoes: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/shoes-heels-ki-queen-10silver_2_ .html

Dress: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/adf9ee2f967f95aecc0acb98c266733f_ .html

Polish: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/imagesCANY1KYA_ .html

Make-up: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/Silver-Smokey-Eye-Makeup_ .html


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Dude, I seriously love you guys. Like for real. I can't believe how many people like my story and it's only 6 chapters (7 now lol) in. Honestly, I don't feel that I've been doing too good of a job with it, given that I've had a severe case of writers block and had to pretty much make myself do it, but the awesome reviews really help me keep going with it! What's even more awesome is that I have a few regulars such as Luna2121, Angel-Of-Life1990, and Stuff2Eat. I also appreciate the comments from the few others that I assume follow it as well as read it, Spectre8, Dahlia Echo, and immortal-lover14 as well as all of the people who favorite this story and followed it. It really makes writing this story worth it to know so many people like it. Lynn loves it as well. So! Onward to the 7th chapter! Some more Bally goodness, dancing, maybe a little bit of *ahem* smooching, or at least attempted smooching. Actually I really don't know. I'm just gonna write it as it goes and where ever it falls it falls. Oh, and lots of possible horny matings going on. Maybe. We'll have to see. If not this chapter it'll be coming up. So yeah, enjoy! Reviews fuel plot bunnies!

_Previously: 'I think I should remedy that soon,' he thought to himself as Lynn tucked in his ward. He stepped closer to Rins' bedside and placed a hand on her head gently, in his own affectionate way, bidding her a good night. He followed Lynn out of the door into the hallway and closed it softly behind him, bidding a rabbit demon called Kayko to see to Rin should something be needed. They walked quietly back to the Ceremony hall. Before they entered, Sesshomaru stopped Lynn with a hand to her shoulder. "I was wondering, Fox, if you would perhaps like to dance with this Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru asked softly, rather nervous about his feelings towards the Silver Fox before him. Lynn blushed profusely and stuttered out a strained "W-wh-what?!"_

Did _the Sesshomaru_, Lord of the West, just ask a lowly little Fox like her to dance with him? In front of all those people?! "I-I…" "You can decline if you so wish," he murmured softly. "N-no its fine. I'll dance with you." "Are you sure?" Sesshomaru asked gently, making sure that she was definitely fine with it. She smiled and nodded at him. "At least you asked politely, whereas that jackass tiger didn't," she said, her nose scrunching at the memory. "Thank you, by the way." Sesshomaru cocked his head to the side, reminding her of a dog. "Whatever for?" He asked curiously. "For believing me."

He shook his head. "It is no problem. It is not the first time that this has happened, though this is the first time that its happened within my home. Shall we return?" He asked, gesturing to the door. She smiled at him and nodded, waiting for him to open the door and stepping through when he stepped out of the way to allow her to go first. _'Want her,' _his beast said quietly. "Be that as it may, she is hanyou, and a Fox at that," he told his Youkai just as quietly. _'And? You've ostracized our own half brother because of such words, but thankfully you've tamed yourself. However, that shouldn't mean that you can't accept a half Fox as a mate. Not to mention the fact that she isn't really a half breed.' _Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes in confusion as he followed Lynn back to her father and cousin, wondering what his beast could have possibly meant by that. He shook it off as he neared her family and bowed a bit.

"Lord Fury, I must say, you have quiet an extraordinary child. I do believe she handled herself quiet well in both situations. Not very many people would stand up to a full blooded Youkai in defense of a child, let alone a human one. This Sesshomaru thanks you both for your defense of my ward," he said quietly and bowed deeper. "Really, My Lord, there is no need to bow to us. We of course would have no problem helping you as we are able to, My Lord, but in this situation, Feara acted before either of us could get a grasp on the situation. She seemed to have assessed the situation while we were talking to you and acted on her own to see it rectified. She abhors children of any age being hurt, be it by another child or an adult. She acted as she saw fit, My Lord." "Indeed," Sesshomaru muttered.

Lynn went to say something else but stopped and blushed brightly when her stomach growled. It was now late in the evening and she hadn't eaten anything since the Market. Fury and Kurama chuckled while Sesshomaru merely smirked a bit. "Eat, Lady Feara. We can have our dance when you are comfortably full." Lynn nodded and took the hand her father held out to her, letting him lead her towards the tables with all the delicious looking foods on it. Once they were far enough away that they were sure Sesshomaru couldn't hear them, they both gave her a questioning look, smiling when she merely blushed harder and looked down. "H-he…he asked me to dance. Nothing more," she muttered.

"And you said yes, I'm assuming," Kurama stated more than asked. Lynn nodded and sat down, her father and Kurama both smirking at her rather quiet answer. "Feara, love, if you don't want to dance, you don't have to. I know that you didn't want to dance with Lord Lou, and I know that you were rather against it, fearing you'll look…_stupid_…I believe is the word you used," Fury said quietly. "I know. But he only asked. He didn't try to hit on me like that bastard did. Or molest me. Hell, he didn't even get on to me for attacking either that bastard and that bitch who dared to harm Rin. Matter of fact, he thanked me for it." "Now you see why I think Lord Sesshomaru has feelings for her, Uncle," Kurama said quietly, only to grunt when Lynn punched him in the stomach. Not hard but hard enough to make him lose a bit of his air when it hit.

Rubbing his stomach and pouting, Kurama fell silent even as Fury laughed a bit at their antics. "Hey, mind if we join you?" Sango asked as she and the others walked up to the table. Lynn shook her head no, showing that she didn't mind. Fury smile and gestured to the seats across for them as he filled up his plate. "By all means, please do join us. It's not often we meet such an odd group of people. I must say I'm intrigued. I know the general story behind it, but I am surprised that you are all still together."

Kagome merely smiled as she leaned her head on Inuyasha's shoulder, causing him to scowl but saying nothing. "Well, originally I'm sure that we all were just in it for the shards. But over the time that we spent together, we became good friends. So here we are. Sango and Miroku are married and don't have to worry about Naraku taking control of her little brother again nor does Miroku have to worry about passing on his curse to his sons. Kouga avenged his fallen clan members, and Inuyasha avenged Kikyou. We all live in peace now and are enjoying it." "Indeed we are," Miroku murmured, a little too silkily for Lynn's taste. It almost sounded as if he were about to do something. She found out a moment later when she heard Sango screech the word "Hentai!" and a resounding slap echoed in the room, gathering some attention but not a lot. After all, what demons really cared about humans, other than the very odd few?

"My dear Sango, I am hurt that you would say such things of a humble monk," Miroku protested. "Keh. Humble my ass. You're about as humble as a drunken child," Inuyasha scoffed, causing a few laughs around the table. Miroku pouted. "I'm a little confused," Lynn said quietly. "I thought you were married. I mean, I assume he did something perverted, but if you're married then why are you upset about it?" Sango laughed and waved it off. "It's not that I'm upset about it. It's just that there's a time and a place for such things. And in the middle of a Ball in front of hundreds of demons as well as friends is so not the time for such things." Lynn laughed. "Yes, I have to say I agree. By the way, thank you guys for sticking up for me against that Lord. I fear that if you hadn't, other than my father and Kurama, I'd be on my own against him."

"Not a problem," they chorused all at once. Lynn smiled and idle chatter consumed the table as they all ate their fill. After a short while, Lynn decided that she should go and find Sesshomaru and give him his dance. She didn't know about the others, but she was rather tired. "Father, I'm going to go find Lord Sesshomaru and give him his dance before I end up falling asleep. I'm tired and wish to go to bed as soon as I dance with him." Fury nodded his understanding and shooed her off to find Sesshomaru. "I agree with our friend Feara. I'm quiet tired myself. It is rather late. If we are to be ourselves in the morning, I suggest we all head to bed," Miroku said, stifling a yawn.

"Me too," Sango said, yawning as well. "Don't you know yawning is contagious?" Kagome asked, yawning through her words. Inuyasha merely scoffed and hugged Kagome close, muttering something unintelligible under his breath, but evidently Kagome heard because she lightly punched him in the side. "Be nice, Yasha," she said, nuzzling close tiredly. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered and stood up, bringing her with him, before sweeping her tired form as well as Shippos', into his arms and nodding towards Fury and Kurama. They nodded back and watched as he walked off with Kagome and Shippo. Miroku, Sango, Kouga and Ayame all bid the two goodnight as well, and walked off to their respective rooms for the night.

"I'm rather tired myself, Uncle. I do hope she hurries. I'd rather not let her wonder the halls alone to our rooms," Kurama said, eyes flitting from demon to demon, accessing them and retaining the knowledge for later use. "I agree. How many?" he asked, knowing that Kurama had been accessing every demon from the moment they set foot in the Hall. "I'm not entirely sure. There are some who really couldn't care for either Lord Lou or Lady Kimiko, so they aren't bothered by their plights. However, it is hard to discern just who didn't like who. It seems like they are split. Some of them didn't like Lord Lou while they adored Lady Kimiko, the other half didn't like Lady Kimiko but adored Lord Lou. Then there are some that either didn't like either one or did but knew better than to press their own luck with Lord Sesshomaru. So I feel it's best to just err on the side of safety rather than leave things to chance."

"Agreed," Fury said, keeping his eyes on his daughter. He didn't think anyone would try anything out in the open, but two had tried and failed. Lynn liked to say that the third time was the charm when trying something, and he was more than a little worried that that would be the case in this particular endeavor. Kurama kept accessing the other demons, cataloging their names, faces and even their powers to keep on file in case something were to happen and he needed to defend his precious cousin. That was the perk of being a thief, he mused. Being able to look at someone and immediately access whether or not they'd be a problem or not.

Lynn made her way into the throngs of mostly drunk demons, being careful to avoid the single males that were loitering about and leering at her. Finally finding Sesshomaru talking to a male that looked like a very beautiful peacock. But before she could make her way over to Sesshomaru, she was suddenly seized in strong arms and spun around in circles. "Lady Feara, my dear! It is so nice to finally meet you!" the unknown male said, startling her. She snarled and yanked one of her arms out of his hold and started to aim at his head, only to have her hand grabbed. "Now, now, my dear. No need for that. I'm not going to harm you, nor am I going to be tasteless like Lord Lou and molest you against your wishes," he said, putting her down but making sure to keep a hold on her arms.

Lynn turned to look at the demon and gasped softly at the beauty before her. He had dark hair that cascaded in waves down his back, shimmering slightly as if it was luminescent. His eyes were a beautiful color themselves. Like a moonstone, only with cat like slits in it. He had scales on the edges of his hair as well, kind of like the dragon demons she had seen in the hall on the way to the Hall, only it looked better on him. He gave her a toothy smile as she looked him over. His black kimono shimmered as well like his hair and his beauty rivaled that of even Sesshomaru's. Where Sesshomaru could be considered light, given his coloring of hair and skin, this male, as far as his hair went, was dark. He looked like the dragon demons that she had seen in the hall, his dark scales lining the same places as the others, though for some reason they looked more tasteful than the other two.

"C-Can I help you?" she said, cursing herself internally as she stuttered over her words, slightly annoyed at herself for her reaction. "No, not really help. I merely wanted to introduce myself to you. Oh!" he said, releasing one arm to bop himself on the forehead with the heal of his hand. "How could I be so forgetful? Your beauty makes me forget my manners it seems." He released her and took a couple of steps back, bowing deeply from his waist. "My dear Lady Feara, it is an honor to finally meet you in person. I've heard much of you upon my arrival here. My name is Takai, Southern Lord and best friend to our dear Lord Sesshomaru. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

Lynn blushed at the seemingly honest gesture from the man and bowed as well when the man righted himself. "It's nice to meet you to. Sorry for almost hitting you earlier. I don't take well to people manhandling me when I'm not expecting or wanting it." Takai merely brushed it off and looped an arm over her shoulders in a friendly way. "Tell me dear, where were you headed?" "Oh, I was looking for Lord Sesshomaru. I promised him a dance earlier. I was getting rather tired so I thought I had better search him out for his dance before I retire to my room for the night." Takai grinned again and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "You might want to wait here, love. Lord Kazuya can be…quite the handful to with upon first meeting, especially by yourself."

Lynn gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean, Lord Takai?" "How much do you know of other demons, my dear?" he asked instead. She frowned and started to ask what he meant, but realized that he could probably smell the human half in her even though she was fully demon right now, just as Kurama had a slight human scent to his scent as well. "Not, much really. I know enough to kind of differentiate between certain ones, and ones that I don't know Kurama or my father tell me so that I'll know for future reference. I'm afraid I'm not in possession of the knowledge of any…rituals or other things among the different species. Why?" "So I am correct in my thinking that you haven't heard anything about peacock demons?"

She shook her head in confusion. Takai merely smiled and gestured to the demon talking to Sesshomaru. "That my dear, is a peacock demon. A rather rare type I might add. See his hair, how it's all white?" She nodded, noticing from her position that he had a few feathers here and there interspersed with his white hair that were also white. "He's one of the rare white peacocks. They're said to be extremely sensual. More so than regular peacocks." "Sensual? In what way?" she asked, curiously eyeing the demon, tilting her head to try to get a better look at his face, which was rather impossible considering he was turned slightly to the side and facing Sesshomaru.

"Well for one, he can emit a special pheromone into his scent that can make any demon, male or female-though he prefers males-, within several feet of him instantly aroused. In fact, I'm rather sure that is why Sesshomaru has that odd look on his face. Not only that, he is quiet beautiful. And very skilled in martial arts of various kinds. He can use a sword as well, but he is much better at close range hand to hand than anything else. His full demon form is beautiful as well, but he can't fight well in that form, given he is a bird. If he reverts to that form, it's usually to get somewhere quicker than on foot or to run away. Though he isn't one for running. Needless to say, right now would be rather hazardous, unless you can control your arousal well."

"Hmm," she murmured out, surprised and yet not. "At any rate, given that the Ball will be two weeks long, I'm sure you'll be introduced to him at one point or another. But try to have your Kurama or Lord Fury with you when you see him. Lord Kazuya gets in a rather foul mood when he doesn't get what he wants. And with your father or Kurama around and if you can control yourself, he'll likely be in a foul mood around you, given how beautiful you are. I'm sure you won't have a problem with resisting him. I'm sure he won't give up trying though, so be forewarned. Oh, and he won't do anything out of the way like trying to manhandle you, but he certainly won't push you away and I assure you, he'll make it rather difficult for you to not want to touch him, be it with the pheromones or his body language. Oh, yes. He is rather good with that too now that I think on it. And if he figures out something you like that gets you all hot and bothered, well, let's just say you'll have an even harder time of it."

'_I highly doubt that he could figure out what I like, and even if he did, there's no way that he could use it against me,'_ Lynn heard in her head. It had taken a while, after she had first started transforming into her Youko form, for her to figure out that it was her Youkai or beast. Basically her demon form Youko Feara. And she had to say she agreed with her Youkai's assessment. She highly doubted that the peacock could even come close to Sesshomaru's level of beauty and strength. Though she knew that he was up on a higher level than her and wouldn't dream of _rutting _as she heard it called, with her. She wouldn't be at all surprised if he was already with someone or even had concubines to satisfy his lusts if he didn't. Though she had read that some did still have concubines even if they were 'mated'.

She continued to observe the peacock, noticing the way he slightly swayed his hips even as he was standing still, evidentially trying to entice Sesshomaru to look lower. Of course, Sesshomaru's golden gaze stayed glued to the demons face. So it was rather a surprise when Sesshomaru suddenly locked his gaze with hers, a light scowl on his face when his gaze slid to her companion. Apparently Lord Kazuya didn't like the fact that Sesshomaru wasn't looking at him and turned to follow his gaze as well. Lynn was rather startled when she finally got a look at the peacocks face. Whereas the feathers in his hair were long, the ones that lined his hair were smaller softer looking ones. He had an undeniably gorgeous face, but what really threw her off was his eyes. They were absolutely beautiful. Instead of any one solid color, they looked like a beautiful quartz gem that she had seen in her time before called mystic quartz. The gem itself was a natural colorless stone that had color processed into it.

Around the pupil, which was a normal circular one surprisingly, was a dark emerald color. The ring outside of the emerald color looked to be amethyst. A ring of sapphire surrounded that one and the last ring was what looked to be a garnet color. It was gorgeous, and it shocked her that there could be such an eye color. "I did warn you that he was rather beautiful," Takai murmured to her when he saw her expression after seeing Kazuya. She turned her head slightly but kept her eyes on the peacock before them, even as he started walking towards them along with Sesshomaru. "Yes, but I wasn't expecting that. Especially his eyes. They're gorgeous. I've never seen anything like them. And why does he look like he's glaring at me?"

"Oh, I imagine he won't for long. You just took Sesshomaru's attention off of him," he murmured before turning his attention to the two Lords in front of them. "My dear Lord Sesshomaru and Lord Kazuya! How are you?" Takai said, smiling brightly at them before literally glomping Sesshomaru, causing Kazuya to stop glaring at Lynn only to turn said glare onto himself. Which of course, was what he was aiming for. Sesshomaru merely sighed softly. "Lord Takai, how many times must I ask you to refrain from such actions?" "Aww, but Sesshy, who says that best friends can't hug each other?" Takai said, giving a surprisingly sexy pout. She wondered idly if he was doing the pout for Sesshomaru or Kazuya. Either way, she wasn't surprised that it hadn't worked on either of them.

"I do hope that Lord Takai wasn't bothering you, Lady Feara," Sesshomaru said softly, shrugging off a sulky Takai. Kazuya just looked back to Lynn, eyeing her from head to toe. "Not at all. He was just introducing himself to me. Though I have to say he gave me a shock with his…introduction," she said, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth at the mock shock on Takais' face, especially when Sesshomaru turned and pinned him with what she could only assume was a death glare. "And just what exactly did you do to…_introduce yourself, _Lord Takai?" "It was nothing, really, My Lord. He just grabbed me in a bear hug and spun me around. I'm not hurt and he didn't sexually assault me, so it's ok. It just startled me a bit that's all. I nearly rearranged his pretty face," she said on a laugh, trying to ignore the beautiful eyes that seemed to be boring holes into her.

"And who might you be, my dear?" Lord Kazuya asked, and Lynn felt herself shiver at the sensual sexy tone, feeling as if the sound itself went into her ears and down to her lower regions, pooling into her stomach to sit there and bubble. Lynn forced a smile onto her face and began to breathe through her mouth, somehow knowing that if he was using that tone with her, it was likely he was emitting his pheromone as well as she looked at him. "Oh, do forgive me, My Lord," she said gracefully, bowing deeply at the waist for a moment before straightening. "My name is Youko Feara. I am daughter to Lord Youko Fury and Lord Youko Kurama. I am pleased to meet you."

Kazuya took her hand in one of his and bent over it to give it a light kiss, looking up through his white lashes with his smoldering gaze. "And I am the Northern Lord, Lord Kazuya. It is strictly my pleasure to be meeting such a…sensuous looking little thing like yourself." Lynn blushed before gently pulling her hand from his, trying to avoid his gaze as she did. "T-Thank you for the compliment, My Lord. Though I'm sure my beauty can't possibly compare to yours," she murmured quietly. She looked up over his shoulder, still trying to avoid his gaze, when she caught sight of Takai making gagging gestures behind Kazuyas' back and she giggled a bit, causing Sesshomaru and Kazuya to follow her gaze to see what had made her amused. Of course, Takai stopped and put on an innocent face when the two looked at him, but the second they looked away again, he quietly danced around as if he was some prissy guy, causing her to giggle again.

"At any rate, My Lords, I didn't mean to bother the two of you. I simply wished to find Lord Sesshomaru. I promised him a dance and I was going to head to bed after words." "Ah, yes. You did indeed promise this Sesshomaru a dance. Would you please excuse me, Lord Kazuya. I would like to dance momentarily with the Lady Feara so that she may retire for the evening." "Of course," he said silkily to both of them, and as Sesshomaru took her hand, she felt the slight tremble that coursed through his body at the sound. Or was it her that trembled. Either way, a surreptitious glance below his waist showed that he was indeed affected by the peacock. At first she wasn't sure about how she felt about that, but then she remembered Takai telling her that he could do it to both males and females, so she supposed that he couldn't quiet blame him for his reaction. That and if he liked males as well, she couldn't hold it against him. Even if he didn't, Kazuya was gorgeous, surprisingly on par with Sesshomaru himself.

"Lord Takai, if you wouldn't mind keeping Lord Kazuya company. And for all that is holy, please don't pick a fight with him. I would like to have as peaceful a Ball as I can." "Aww, Sesshy, don't stick me with the harlot!" "Lord Takai!" Sesshomaru ground out, giving him a death glare that rivaled Kazuya's at the harlot comment. Takai gave a childish pout and crossed his arms over his chest, completely ignoring Kazuya. Sesshomaru gave him one last warning glance before ushering Lynn off onto the dance floor were several drunken couples, some mated some not, were dancing to the music. When they were a safe distance away, Sesshomaru murmured down to her, "I must thank you for reminding me of the dance. Truthfully, I wanted a break from Lord Kazuya."

Lynn smiled up at him as she placed her hand in his offered one and the other on his shoulder as he placed his free hand on her waist and began weaving them over the dance floor in a waltz. "Oh? Lord Takai was telling me that he was a rather interesting demon." "Did he?" Sesshomaru muttered. "Yes. He was telling me that perhaps I should wait to meet Lord Kazuya for the time being. He said that if he found me attractive that he would try really hard to get me into his bed essentially. Given the reaction I had to him, I'm not surprised that you seemed to be affected by him as well." Sesshomaru felt a light blush grace his cheeks and looked away. "Unfortunately, that is true. That is one of his demonic abilities. And it doesn't help that he's been trying to slip into my bed for years. Since he became the Lord of the North."

"He did seem rather agitated with me and Lord Takai at first. Maybe that was why. He didn't want your attention on anyone but him," Lynn murmured as Sesshomaru spun her around before pulling her back into his arms. "Indeed. He can be…quite overwhelming at times. Needless to say, I try to avoid him whenever possible. Given that this is the Mating Ball, he's going to try harder than ever to get into my bed. Do be careful as well. He seems to have taken an interest in you as well, and he isn't very monogamous." "He does seem to be the playboy type," she said idly. "Playboy?" Sesshomaru questioned, never having heard the term before. "Mmm. He doesn't stay with one person. He flits from person to person a doesn't seem to want to settle down with any one person."

Sesshomaru nodded his understanding. "I must confess I wish he would find someone other than me and settle with them. At least then I wouldn't have to worry about him trying to get into my bed," Sesshomaru muttered out, not really intending for her to hear the last part, though she did. She chuckled at Sesshomarus' clear disdain of the demon who could turn on anyone he liked without even trying. She wondered if it worked on humans as well. Though maybe not the scent. Humans couldn't smell as well as other demons. And really any canine demon had better noses than that of birds or other Youkai. She was sure the rest of the senses, though dulled, worked just fine. "I didn't actually attempt to get a whiff of his scent, with or without the pheromone that Lord Takai told me of, so I haven't a clue what he smelled like. But I have to say, I'm pretty sure you smell better than he does."

Seconds later she realized what she had just admitted, and blushed brightly, looking down to hide her face. Sesshomaru's eyes widened when he heard that, but chuckled softly as she looked down, avoiding his gaze. "How is it that you can stand having all these people in your home?" she asked suddenly, causing Sesshomaru to smile, having caught on that she was trying to change the subject. Which he allowed by answering. "Most times, it doesn't really bother me, unless the Ladies present are throwing themselves at me, trying to get me to mate with them, or their fathers are, or both. Sometimes even males as well. Other than that, and occasionally having to deal with issues concerning their stay here, they aren't much of a problem. Though the issues are few and far between. However, I can't stand these Balls, let alone hosting one, for reasons that you have already seen."

"Sounds aggravating. Can't say that I'd want to host one. I definitely wouldn't want to be here if it weren't that its tradition, or some I'm told." "It is indeed. More so because I have to host them all in my home for an entire two weeks. Any other time, it'd only be for meetings and whatnot, and they don't usually last more than a week. A few days at best. And yes, generally it is tradition, but not all are able or like to participate. However, the Cardinal Lords must attend such things, whether they want to or not." "Cardinal Lords?" Lynn puzzled. "North, South, East and West. As of now, you've officially met all of the Cardinal Lords. Or at least all but one. There is myself, Lord of the West; Lord Takai, Lord of the South; Lord Kazuya, Lord of the North, and lastly is Lord Kouga, Lord of the East."

"I've briefly met Lord Kouga. He was hanging around Inuyasha and his friends." "Ah, I see. I hope that my half wit brother didn't offend you at all." She smiled a bit at that. They really didn't seem to get along. "At first he did. But I realized that is just how he is. Not to mention he stood up for me earlier. So all is well." Moments later she started to yawn, trying to stifle it by turning her head and stifling it in her shoulder. "It would seem you are getting tired, Lady Feara. Shall we conclude this dance?" "I'm sorry. I'm not used to all this activity, even though I'm more or less a night owl." "It is quiet alright, Lady Feara. I do not hold it against you. It is rather late. Let us return you to your father," Sesshomaru said lightly, stopping them and guiding her off the dance floor. He spotted her cousin and father sitting at the table, sipping idly on the demonic wine he had his staff prepared.

"Come," he said quietly, watching her stifle another yawn as they approached the table. Fury looked up as they approached and smiled. "My Lord, thank you for safely returning my daughter," he said brightly, standing up to take her into his arms, smiling softly as she nuzzled tiredly into his chest. "It was no problem at all, Lord Fury. I wish the three of you a good night," Sesshomaru said, bowing a bit before turning to go back to Takai and Kazuya. Fury rubbed Lynn's back lightly, chuckling softly as she sighed happily and attempted to use him for a pillow, even standing up. "Feara, dear. Come, let us get into bed," he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Don't wanna," she slurred out sleepily.

Kurama chuckled as well upon hearing the muffled words. "You may have to carry her, Uncle. I don't think she's going to walk that far, especially in those shoes. Do you need me to carry her?" Fury shook his head before bending slightly to place his right arm behind her legs and lifting her up off of her feet. Cradling her close, they walked out of the Hall heading towards their room. "Did you happen to get an assessment on Lord Takai, Kurama?" Fury asked quietly. "Yes. I was rather surprised to see him sneaking up behind Feara, and had assumed the worst. But as you saw, he only hugged her. Which in and of itself was surprising as he doesn't know her that well. Though that is his nature, it would seem. He's rather fond of touching people he cares about, and he seems to care about her, though I'm not sure why."

"I noticed. She nearly decked him. Though I have to say I was rather surprised that she was able to control herself around Lord Kazuya," Fury murmured. "I'm rather glad he didn't come over to us. I don't think I could put up with it this time. Last time, I nearly jumped him, and that's when I was able to fully control myself. This time, I have her to worry about as well as myself, and I don't think that I'll be able to handle both." Fury chuckled, letting Kurama open the door to their chambers and following him in, being careful not to bump her head or feet on the frame as he walked in. Kurama shut the door and followed his uncle to the bedroom door, opening it as well.

Fury walked in and gently set Lynn on the edge of the bed, sitting her up. Tapping her cheek lightly, he murmured her name softly. "Feara, love, wake up. You need to get dressed for bed dear." She moaned and tried to push him away. He chuckled and forced her to stand, holding her arms as she swayed. "Feara, get dressed for bed, then you can sleep." She blinked open her eyes, not wanting to be awake, and started to do as she was told. Leaning over a bit, she slipped out of her shoes and chucked them at her chest. Kurama brought over her sleep yukata and both Fury and Kurama turned away to allow her to change into the clothes. They glanced over at her when she went to her trunk and began taking off her earrings and letting down her hair, placing them in the trunk. They took that time to quickly change into their own sleeping yukatas.

Lynn turned towards the bed before they had finished and climbed in. Luckily, they had already gotten their sleep pants on so she didn't see anything but silver hair and bare backs. She snuggled under the blankets and let out a contented sigh as moments later, the bed dipped on either side of her and two warm bodies cuddled up close to her, holding her close. She snuggled closer to the chest she happened to be facing, which happened to be her fathers. Kurama snuggled close to her back and kissed the back of her neck in affection before allowing himself to drift off to sleep as well. Fury also kissed her goodnight, except he kissed her forehead instead. Moments later he drifted off as well. He hoped the rest of the time that they were here that they didn't have any problems. Especially not with Lord Kazuya. He had a feeling that there was going to be problems there, given the way that he had looked at her when he and Sesshomaru had walked over to her. It was going to be a long two weeks…

A/N: Well, I'm going to stop there. Well day one of the Ball is complete. In case you're wondering, it is well past midnight by the time that they leave the Ball. There will be several more days written for the Ball itself, but I'm going to skip around the next few scenes to interesting things. Things to look forward to: Kazuya hitting on Lynn and sneaking kisses-and of course getting punched; Takai and Lynn becoming friends; Sesshomaru and Lynn getting to know each other; possible Sesshomaru/Lynn kiss (not sure when); more demons picking on Rin and getting their asses handed to them by Lynn. And several other things. That's not to say that it'll all be in the next chapter, but it will give you an idea of what's to come. Ja ne, for now. Remember to review as they feed the bunnies of the plot. And thanks to a guest reviewer by the name of black rose for your review as well! Not sure what exactly you said, but I got the gist of it and appreciated it! Thanks again for all my followers/reviewers/and favoriters. I loves you guys! Muah!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **So. Chapter 8. More Bally (yes, that sounds really wrong lol) goodness. No guarantees, but possible kisseness in this chappie. Maybe. I think. At any rate, I was kinda hoping for more comments but I'm extremely thankful for all the reviews that I have gotten from my loyal readers. It is greatly appreciated, so again I say a big thank you to Angel-Of-Life1990, Spectre8, and Stuff2Eat who have commented on my story so far. Also a very very VERY big thank you to all the followers/favoriters that have liked my story, and an even bigger thank you to all those who have commented on it. It makes my day, especially that I got like three reviews in like an hour. Which was awesome. Like seriously. Love you guys. For cereal. Lol. Anyway, on with the story! Muah!

_Previously: Lynn turned towards the bed before they had finished and climbed in. Luckily, they had already gotten their sleep pants on so she didn't see anything but silver hair and bare backs. She snuggled under the blankets and let out a contented sigh as moments later, the bed dipped on either side of her and two warm bodies cuddled up close to her, holding her close. She snuggled closer to the chest she happened to be facing, which happened to be her fathers. Kurama snuggled close to her back and kissed the back of her neck in affection before allowing himself to drift off to sleep as well. Fury also kissed her goodnight, except he kissed her forehead instead. Moments later he drifted off as well. He hoped the rest of the time that they were here that they didn't have any problems. Especially not with Lord Kazuya. He had a feeling that there was going to be problems there, given the way that he had looked at her when he and Sesshomaru had walked over to her. It was going to be a long two weeks…_

The rest of the week seemed to drag on, or at least in Lynn's opinion. She was rather growing tired of all the dancing. She even went to the trouble of changing her dress and accessories from day to day just to keep things interesting. Certainly things with Sesshomaru were getting interesting. Every day this week he had asked to dance with her, and blushing profusely she accepted. They talked a lot this past week, mostly about her and where she had grown up. Of course, since he knew about Kagome and where she came from, she really didn't see the need to hold it back from him. "Do you not miss your family?" he had asked. "Of course," she had said. Of course she missed them. How could she not. But at the same time, she had a family here that had missed her long before they had. That didn't make things better, of course. She just wished she could let her family know she was ok.

Of course, if she considered the pack of males in the Palace itself panting after her, she could say that that was interesting. But then again, she really only cared about the one, other than her family and the few friends that she had made since then. The worst was Lord Kazuya. He had been trying pretty damn hard to get her into his bed. Even Sesshomaru was rather tired of it, whether or not it was for the same reason, she wasn't sure. To make things even more interesting, her third day there, she was exploring the Palace and came across, to her horror, a mating couple. And they weren't the only ones she came across. She came across at a least a dozen, one of which she knew for a fact were two males. The others she could only guess at. But the most interesting thing that week was when she was told the day before about there being a talent show of sorts for all the single females that were wanting to mate. Showing off their wares so to speak.

Of course you could choose whatever you liked to show off which was a plus. She didn't really care for dancing and she damn sure couldn't sing worth a shit. Well, she sung well enough for herself anyway, cause really, who else had she let hear her sing? Her father had asked her if she wanted to participate, and until he told her about picking whatever she liked, she had been rather hesitant. Grinning, she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted to fight. Of course she couldn't kill whoever was chosen to face her, but she would damn near get as close to it as possible. Maybe Sesshomaru would let her fight Lou. He deserved a good ass kicking, as he was still in the dungeons. Or maybe Lord Kazuya. He seemed to be of the opinion that he was head honcho around the Palace since he could seduce pretty much whoever he wanted, noble or otherwise, female or male, into his bed.

So when the day of the "talent show" came around, she was literally rubbing her hands with glee all day. She, her father, and Kurama had spent a majority of the day visiting the other markets before returning a couple of hours after the mid-day meal to rest up for the Ball and talent show. She actually found herself so excited that it took quite a bit of effort from Fury to put her to sleep for a bit. He literally had to lace his scent with as much relaxation pheromones as possible just to calm her down enough to sleep. Kurama had chuckled at that and Fury was rather amused as well.

Soon enough, the time of the Ball was drawing near and Lynn excitedly got ready. She merely morphed her sleeping clothes into her white fighting clothes and located her brand new sword and attached it to her hip via her sash. She hadn't had much practice with an actual sword other than when she practiced with her father and she definitely hadn't a clue as to what, if any, powers her new sword had. She was aware that some demon swords had powers imbued in them when they were forged. But as far as she knew, there wasn't any, though she was sure that she could channel her own Youkai into it if she wanted. Finding a red ribbon to add some color to her outfit-other than her sword of course-she tied her hair up into a high ponytail and observed her reflection in the stand up mirror. She twirled, grinning at the fact that she would be more comfortable as well as less worried about too much skin showing.

When it was near time for the Ball to start, she nearly skipped to the door, her excitement bubbling over. She wasn't at all surprised when she opened the door to find Takai with his hand raised mid-air as if he had been about to knock on the door. Over the last week, she and Takai had become good friends and she had been told to call him just Takai. "Hi, Takai!" she chirped, bouncing in place as she waited for her father and Kurama to catch up. Takai arched a brow at her appearance and eagerness to get going. "I think I can take a guess at what you'll be doing for the talent show in a bit," he laughed out. She laughed a bit at that. "That obvious?" she asked playfully. "I should say so, my dear. If the outfit didn't give it away, the sword certainly did," he said, offering her his arm. Taking it, they headed off to the Ceremony Hall, Kurama and Fury trailing behind, talking quietly to themselves. They weren't worried about Takai. He, after all, was Lord Sesshomarus' best friend and ally, and had also looked out for Lynn with Lord Kazuya.

Lynn herself was rather shocked when they walked into the Hall to find most every female dressed as provocatively as possible. Or at least all the single ones were dressed that way. The ones who were mated or just didn't care about trying to look like a trollop were dressed in their Ball gowns. Lynn looked around her, and even though she knew she herself was rather pretty, she felt rather self-conscious. She scowled a bit when a wave of dizziness hit her, alarming Takai who was holding her arm. "You alright, dear?" he asked softly. She shook off her dizziness and smiled brightly. "I'm quiet alright. Just a bit dizzy is all. I'm good. Thank you," she soothed the concerned demon beside her.

They walked further into the room and Takai deposited her with the other demonness' standing in line, waiting for the show to begin. She ignored the scathing looks the other demonness' sent her way, imagining that they figured she was under-or rather overly dressed compared to them- dressed and figured her to be rather stupid to think that she could possibly get anywhere with her powers let alone her blade. Granted she hadn't fought much with it, but she was confident enough in herself and her skills with blades that she didn't fear harm or much of it from whoever was chosen to fight her. Not to mention she had good practice with her control over her plants, since she trained with and without Kuramas' help.

They only had to wait for a little bit before Sesshomaru situated himself at the forefront of the podium, and spoke after the crowd hushed. "This Sesshomaru thanks you all for coming to the Mating Ball for this season in my home. We shall now begin this evenings Ball with a talent show of sorts, allowing all single females to show off their respective talents to try to gain the attention of any of the single males. This one shouldn't need to remind any of you of this, but I will anyway. This one reminds you that there will be no sabotaging of any of the performances, whether they are good or bad, even if it attracts the attention of the one that you are trying to gain the attention of. Whatever happens, happens, and will not be messed with in my home. If you have a problem, take it out of my lands. With that said, please begin," he said, gesturing to the ladies to the left of the stage.

'And so the horror show begins,' Lynn mused as she watched the first demonness take the stage. She was quiet far down the line of demonness', so it would be a while before she was to go up. She sighed in boredom as the line slowly shrunk, most of the demons who called themselves females showed off by dancing provocatively or by singing. She had to admit, most of their dancing, those who weren't downright slutty looking, danced pretty well. The ones that sung had rather beautiful voices and the words to the sometimes music-less songs seemed pretty good. All in all, she was rather glad that she was going to demonstrate her fighting skills, as she was nowhere near their level of dancing or singing. Especially considering she didn't dance like that or want to sing for that matter. She sang, but only to herself and most times only when she was bathing. After what seemed like forever but was really only hours, Lynn was finally next. Taking a deep breath, she slowly made her way onto the stage, ignoring the glares from the unmated females that were snickering behind her back on either side of the stage.

Steeling herself, she took a deep breath and said loudly so everyone could hear her, "My name is Youko Feara, daughter of Lord Youko Fury and cousin of Lord Youko Kurama. I do not like to dance and I certainly do not sing unless it's to myself or to young children, so that is not what I will be doing today. I am aware it is rather unorthodox, but I request to fight the strongest that the Lord Sesshomaru chooses as my talent. In case you didn't catch it, my talent that I wish to show off is fighting."

Fury and Kurama grinned proudly and Sesshomaru and Takai merely smirked at the rather odd request. "Sebastian!" Sesshomaru called out, not even flinching when said demon appeared out of nowhere as per usual, though it did startle Takai a bit. "Yes, My Lord?" the demon purred. "The Lady Feara wishes to spar to show off her talent. She has asked that I chose someone to fight with her. Will you comply?" Sesshomaru said without pause. "But of course, My Lord. It would be an honor," the crow demon said, bowing at the waist and lightly hopping up onto the stage. He bowed to Lynn and grinned cheekily as she returned the gesture.

Lynn herself felt rather excited. She was itching for something more interesting than dancing and singing. Dancing around lightly on her feet, she pulled out her sword as Sebastian did as well. She smiled as Sebastian fell into a pose that she assumed all of Sesshomarus' guards learned going through training. She fell into her own stance, though it wasn't traditional, she was used to it. And really it wasn't a stance at all, as any seasoned warrior could see, but was rather effective for her. Moments later, Sesshomaru roared out loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Begin!".

She smiled and darted forward, momentarily startling Sebastian as he hadn't expected her to be so fast. But he quickly compensated and brought his sword up to par off her blade that was making its way to his side, batting it aside quickly before darting into her personal space grinning, bringing up a closed fist, aiming for her face. She quickly ducked and shoved away. She smirked as she flared out her Youkai as she danced away out of his range, using it to call forth some vines which shot up from the ground beneath Sebastian and wrapped around his legs, holding him in place as she darted forward again. This time, as she neared him, she didn't use her sword, but did a roundhouse kick mere inches from him, her foot connecting solidly into his chest and sending him backwards as the vines released him on her command.

Sebastian landed hard on his back, the wind momentarily being knocked out of him. He managed to roll away at the last second as she came up, blade in hand, going to strike the killing blow. Seeing him roll away, she changed her blow at the last second to keep herself protected as she followed after him, growling a bit when she attempted to swipe at him again and he again rolled out of the way of her blade as he rolled deftly to his feet, his breath returned to him. Sebastian grinned and bowed a bit. "That was rather impressive, My Lady. But unfortunately, it will take much more than that for you to bring me down, My Lady." "So I see," she said lightly, but darted forward as she did so.

She again used her Youkai to talk with the plants and vines erupted near his feet again, but unfortunately, Sebastian was better prepared for that and simply danced out of the way. But he failed to watch his back and had been concentrated on his feet, so he failed to see that there was some thorny vines behind him and he was instantly wrapped in them, the tiny thorns digging into his skin as Lynn smirked. "Failure to concentrate on only one thing makes for a bad turn in fights," she murmured and stalked around her trapped prey, more and more vines erupting from the ground to wrap around him.

Sebastian growled at himself for underestimating the girl again as the thorns dug into his skin, but grinned to himself as he waited for the killing blow to come again, having one more trick up his sleeve. Right as she went to "impale" him, as she didn't want to kill him of course, the second her blade almost pierced his skin, he burst into dark black feathers, surprising her. The vines retracted as she looked around for Sebastian, frowning when she couldn't find him. "Really, My Lady. That was rather unfair of you to trap me like that," a silky voice murmured in her ear behind her but before she could do anything he sent her flying through the air to land hard on the ground.

Gasping for breath, Lynn tried to sit up, only to have Sebastians' blade keep her from sitting up as it was sitting on her neck. She growled, her Youkai coming to the forefront a bit, not liking the position that seemed to be a dominating one from one it didn't consider its mate, and without her thought or consent, vines erupted around Sebastian, wrapping around his hand that held his blade and ripped it away from her neck as she bounced to her feet. Unconsciously, her Youkai called forth one of her most deadly plants, ordering it to wrap around the demon. She growled, her eyes flashing red when it didn't obey her and she flashed a look to Kurama, who she knew was the only other that could control plants.

"Why are you interfering?" she snarled, her eyes red and powers bristling. "You were going to kill him, dear. I couldn't allow that. This is merely a show of your powers, not an all out death match," Kurama said soothingly, noticing her eye color. She growled and stalked towards Kurama only to jump back as a blade aimed for her body yet again. Her tail twitched and swished back and forth in her anger as Sebastian smiled at her. "It would seem that this fight is not yet finished for you, My Lady. Shall we continue?" She snarled and darted forward, her mind no longer thinking before she acted and raised her blade above her head. Sebastian reacted immediately and sent his foot into her stomach sending her flying back to skid across the stage. He darted forward to deal the killing blow but stopped short when he saw that she was unconscious.

Apparently Sesshomaru had noticed this as well as he snarled and jumped onto the stage, standing in front of the unconscious girl. Sebastian immediately dropped his weapon and bared his neck to his Lord, not wanting him to think that he was being aggressive. He saw the blood seeping into his Lords' eyes as Sesshomaru ordered him to leave. He quickly left, deciding to wait until his Lord was calmer before coming back for his blade. Sesshomaru turned and checked on Lynn, the red fading from his eyes as he carefully accessed Lynn to see if she was injured. It hit him then, the reason she was unconscious as he took her into his arms. His eyes bled red again as he fought with his beast, trying to control it. '_Mate is in heat,_' it growled out.

Sesshomaru quickly jumped off the stage before his beast could get out of hand and shoved Lynn into her fathers' arms. "Get her out of here," he growled in a guttery voice. Fury started to ask what the problem was when Lynns' scent hit his nose. "Oh, Kami," he said and immediately backed away, a confused Kurama moving to stand in front of them. "Kurama, we are returning to our room. Let us go quickly," Fury said hurriedly. Takai had a restraining hand on Sesshomarus' arm as Fury and Kurama retreated with an unconscious Lynn, waiting until they disappeared to ask what was on his mind. "Is she…?" he asked, and Sesshomaru merely growled, giving Takai his answer as Sesshomaru continued to fight his beast.

Seeing that Sesshomarus' mind was elsewhere but that he wasn't going anywhere, Takai jumped on stage and gathered up Sebastians' sword and sheathing it on his sash, before turning to the crowd and clapping his hands. "It would seem our dear Lady Feara has abruptly come into her heat, and as such, has caused her to pass out. The victory by default goes to Lord Sesshomaru's guard, Sebastian. With that said, let us continue with the presentation of the singles Ladies. My dear Ladies, do continue, please," he said before jumping off the stage, ignoring the lustful looks and snickers of the Ladies presenting themselves, knowing they were hoping to get him into their beds this last week.

Meanwhile, Fury and Kurama hurried to their room. "Uncle, her scent…" Kurama started only to be cut off with a growled out, "Yes, I know." Apparently, his uncle hadn't expected her to go into heat so soon either. The moment that they walked in the room, Fury handed Lynn to Kurama and immediately turned to start making wards to keep anyone other than themselves, children, and the servants out of their room. Kurama let his uncle go about setting up protection wards as he took Lynn and laid her down on the bed, frowning at the temperature of her skin. Though, of course, that came with any heat, especially the very first. So he could only imagine how intense it was for her, as it was her very first heat, not to mention it seemed to have hit rather hard.

Kurama hurried to the bathroom, grabbing a hand washing basin on the way there, and filled it with cool water and grabbed a rag, tossing it into the bowl before returning to the room, setting it on the night stand between the two beds. Carefully wringing out the rag, he gently brushed Lynns' hair from her face and placed it on her forehead. Fury came in a few moments later sighing. "I can't believe this. I knew her heat would be hitting her soon, but I thought we had a few months at least," Fury said in exasperation. "If I may venture a guess, Uncle, I think her heat was brought on sooner than it would have because she chose fighting as her talent." "Fighting? What makes you think that?" Fury asked confused.

"Well, it was when the crow demon had her pinned, his blade on her neck. Her Youkai came forward then. I think she, or rather her Youkai, has already chosen its mate. Someone that evidently wasn't the crow. She felt dominated, therefore her demon took control of her before she could think or even give it permission and reacted. It was why she tried to kill him. Her demon was in control and her instincts where at the forefront. She was rather pissed that I stopped the death plant from consuming the crow. She was beyond thinking at that point. Needless to say, I think her Youkai fully coming out because it wasn't her mate that was trying to dominate her, in battle at least, was what jumpstarted her heat."

"That would make sense. But then, while it explains hers, it doesn't explain Lord Sesshomarus' reaction to it, unless…" "His Youkai considers her its mate…" Kurama finished and they looked at each other. "That is not good. With her in heat, and if her Youkai already has chosen its mate, then her being here is going to make it harder on her. She's going to want to go to Lord Sesshomaru. She has no control over her Youkais' urgings, regardless of how much she has been practicing with it. I have no idea what his intentions are either." "Either way, we need to keep her bound here," Kurama agreed.

A groan brought their attention back to the girl in the bed as she came to. "What…the fuck…?" she groaned out, holding a hand to her head, knocking off the rag, which Kurama picked up. "Are you alright, Feara love?" Fury asked, sitting next to her and brushing his fingers against her cheek. "Head hurts…where am I…?" "Our room," Kurama said softly, replacing the rag on her head. "Do you remember anything?" Fury asked gently. Lynn blinked and tried to concentrate. "I…remember…fighting with the crow demon…Sebastian?...and then I remember him pinning me to the floor. After that it was like something hot just slammed right into me and then…I don't know…it was like something took over me…and I could see what was going on but I couldn't control it and then blackness…" she said softly.

Fury nodded. "The wall of heat you felt was your heat coming on dear. We believe that it was brought on by the crow pinning you and trying to dominate you in the fight. Your Youkai came forth at that time, and tried to kill the crow. Kurama stopped you of course, but shortly after that you passed out. The first heats are always the worst. I had thought that we had more time to get you adjusted to it…but unfortunately not…" Fury said, growling to himself at his lack of thought. Lynn frowned, trying to absorb all the information just given to her. "Why would Sebastians' pinning me have brought my Youkai out?" she asked confused. Kurama and Fury looked at each other. "It's…" Kurama said, not sure how to best go about it that wouldn't upset her. Fury on the other hand, didn't want to bring it up but knew she would only pester them until she finally got an answer and decided to answer as truthfully as possible. "It's complicated, love," he said, not really answering but answering all the same.

She realized this and gave him a look. "You're holding something back from me, Father. What is it?" When he didn't answer and looked away, she growled, frustrated. "Feara…" Fury sighed out. "What is it?" she asked, growing more frustrated. "Your Youkai came out because you were being pinned and dominated by someone who your Youkai didn't consider its mate…" "My mate?" Fury merely nodded. "Well, that's…odd…so who is my mate?" Fury frowned and got up. "We have a theory, but I'm not telling that to you. End of story. So don't think to drag it out of me, Feara love. What I am concerned with right now is keeping you safe."

"But it's only a heat cycle isn't it? How can I not be safe?" "Feara, dear. In your heat…you might try to go after someone you normally wouldn't…even females…to satisfy your heat. The more sex you have, the quicker your heat goes. Though usually one has more control and forewarning when their heats come upon them. However, we haven't had a chance to talk to you about that, let alone instruct you on how to control it when it did come up, so its caught us by surprise. We had thought that we had more time…but it would seem not…the fight seems to have jumpstarted your heat." "So…what? What do we have to do?"

"We're staying in the room for the rest of our stay here," Fury said, bracing himself for the outrage that he knew was coming. "WHAT?!" she screeched. "You mean to tell me, that I'm going to have to stay in this room, for another six days?! What in the name of holy hell am I supposed to do in here for six days?! Do you have any idea how stir crazy I'm going to get, staying cooped up in here?!" "It is what is best for you, and I will have no arguments from you, have I made myself clear?" Fury ground out. "But Father…" "You will stay here!" Fury said, finality in his voice as he stalked out of the room, slamming the bed room door behind himself. She screeched and threw a pillow at the door. Kurama himself only sighed, knowing his Uncle would want him to stay with her.

"Fuck this, I'm not staying in here," Lynn growled out, tossing the covers back and moving to get up. Kurama pushed her back. "Lynn dear, Uncle is right. You need to stay here for your heat." "No! I'm not going to be confined here!" she growled and shoved up, only to be shoved back down and held her in place with some vines that would only listen to him. "Kurama!" "I'm sorry, Feara love. This is for the best," he said gently, ignoring her screams at him and her struggles. Kurama sighed, not liking having to restrain his baby cousin. "Can't you just fucking tell me who it is, so I know to avoid them? I mean, come on! I can avoid the men! And you and Father will be around me all the time we're here, so what's the problem?"

"The problem is, dear, is that if you haven't figured it out and your Youkai hasn't told you yet who it wants, that the moment we tell you, you will be drawn to him. And given how little control you have over your Youkai when you're upset, you will go to him regardless of what you try to NOT do. As far as the other males go, the single ones, especially if they've figured it out by now, will more than likely try to seduce your Youkai into their bed, and you won't be able to resist. And I imagine you'll have to worry about the females as well. As long as they don't try to dominate you, you'll be more accepting of their advances. The only one you'll ever allow to dominate you, is the one that your Youkai has chosen as its mate," Kurama said softly. A loud screech was his only answer to his calm reply.

Several days later found a fuming Lynn sitting in a chair by the open balcony windows, pouting. The only people she had seen other than her Father, who was still angry with her, and Kurama, who still had to restrain her from time to time, was the little ones, Shippo and Rin. When they came in, they managed to distract her for a time. Later that day, Kurama left her on her own, warning her to stay within their chambers for her protection as he went to a meeting with the other Lords. She stayed…for a while.

After half an hour of waiting, she carefully snuck out of her rooms and made her way around to the gardens. She could have gone to the ones outside of her room, but she wanted to look at a different one. Sniffing around a bit, she found one that smelled as if it had some pretty smelling flowers and followed the scent. She gasped softly as she opened a door leading to this garden to find flowers of all colors and types surrounding her. While they were many different ones, they didn't clash with each other at all. There were many different types, from roses, to pansies, to daisies and on and on. She laughed and ran into the garden, spinning around a couple of times, listening to all the many voices of the plants around her.

She walked around and lightly touched each and every flower, feeding it some of her Youkai and listening to them sing for her. She did that for quite a while before the flowers warned her of the approaching demon. Sniffing carefully, she realized that it was Sesshomarus' scent and she shuddered, feeling her Youkai come to the surface a bit. "Are you enjoying the gardens, Lady Feara?" Lynn fought down her Youkai and turned to him smiling. "They're beautiful. All of them are very pretty, and they all sing good as well." "Sing?" Sesshomaru questioned. "Oh, yes. I can hear them singing because I'm able to control them. I can also talk to them. Matter of fact, they were the ones that told me you had entered the garden."

"Is that so?" Sesshomaru said softly. Lynn merely smiled and nodded, shuddering a bit as a wave of heat hit her. "Lady Feara, at the risk of possibly sounding like your father, but you really shouldn't be out here. There are many who would take advantage of your…condition." Lynn frowned and growled out. "I can damn well do what I want. I may be his daughter but I'm not a damn child. I'm twenty-three fucking years old, and I've been able to take care of myself for quite a while. I appreciate my Father and cousin worrying for me, and I appreciate your concern as well, but it's not as if it's the first time that I've had sex. Though I have yet to have sex as a demon, I'm not a virgin. Nor am I stupid. I know how many males here, especially that Lord Kazuya, want to get into my bed, but while I've had sex, I don't do random people. I do have a little more standards than that to just allow anyone into my bed." At that, she stalked off back towards the door, completely unaware of said demon Lord watching the little tiff between them.

Moments before she reached the door, it slammed open and Kurama and Fury fell through the door, obviously panicking and looking for her. They stood there for a moment stunned before Fury growled and grabbed Lynn, pulling her tightly into his arms. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have gotten yourself into, wondering around in heat around all these vapid males that are panting after you?" he nearly snarled out, more out of concern than true anger at her. Lynn merely shoved him away, growling out "I am not a child!" before stalking back into the Palace and running to their room, tears in her eyes at the way she was being treated. Fury watched as Kurama ran after her to make sure she made it to her room ok, and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I feel I must apologize, Lord Fury. I think I may have stirred her up with my comment. Though she did go about telling me off rather rudely. Though I understand," Sesshomaru said softly. Fury looked at him in horror. "I am sorry, My Lord. She didn't mean to be rude. She's just been cooped up in the room for several days because of her heat, not to mention she is rather irate at me for keeping her there. It is no excuse but please accept my apologies on her behalf, My Lord." Sesshomaru merely shook his head, alarming Fury for a moment. "No need to apologize, Lord Fury. I understand the issue. I take no offense with her outburst. But do please excuse me. I merely came out here to make sure that she was well and not being taken advantage of in her current state. I must return to deal with the other guests." Bowing, Sesshomaru left Fury there in shock.

"I'll be damned. There must be something between those two. Any other person would be dead, or in the dungeons for her behavior." Fury rubbed his face vigorously, trying to deal with everything. "Kami, give me strength," he whispered to himself as he went back to his rooms to check on Lynn. She was furious, throwing things, mostly pillows, across the room and stalking in circles as Kurama tried talking her down. "Feara, dear, I know you are angry about being locked in your room, but you know that it's for your own safety. You know we care about you," Kurama said, exasperation in his voice. "I can take care of myself! I've been doing so for several years when I wasn't here, so what's the difference? I even took care of myself when I first got here!" "Other than Lord Sesshomaru," Kurama muttered.

"Youko Feara! That will be enough! It is not a question about you being able to take care of yourself. However, your Youkai will be persistent, and you haven't much control over it. Once your other half decides it wants something, it won't stop until it gets it. It's not only your honor we are trying to protect here, but your virtue as well," Fury said, trying to get Lynn to understand. Of course, she only growled at him. "Father, apparently your nose isn't working well, because if it was, you would smell that I am NOT a virgin. Well, I would think that you could smell that." At the furious look on Fury's face, because apparently he hadn't noticed that, she gave a small laugh. "Really Father. That look doesn't suit you. It was done when I was human, as well as in a different place. The people that I've been with won't be born for at least 500 or so years. Besides that, in my time, it is not uncommon to have sex before marriage. Or mating for that matter. Course I've lost count of how many I've slept with, though I'm usually with one for a period of time in what I _thought _was a relationship only to find out how wrong I was. At any rate, there's no need to worry about my honor. It's not like I have any to protect, and I'm sure that anyone with a good nose knows this, and has likely told others if they have. I appreciate your attempt, Father, but I am not a child. And I am not a virgin whose honor you need to protect."

Fury sighed and rubbed his head. She was right of course, he had just thought that his nose wasn't working properly and had dismissed it. He looked to Kurama, narrowing his eyes at him. "Did you know?" he asked, voice low. "I suspected, but I never asked or looked into it," came Kuramas' quiet reply. Fury sighed and shook his head. "Fine, Feara. Tomorrow you will be free to do as you like. But I ask that you have one of us with you at all times, please, for my sake of mind. You may not be a virgin anymore, due to circumstances outside my control, but there is still your honor to protect. It is not common here, at least not for the females, to sleep around with whoever they choose unless they are part of a brothel or are personal concubines that are allowed to sleep with guests or staff as well as whomever they serve. And I don't think you'd want to be considered either."

An "Oof!" left Furys' lips as Lynn came out of nowhere and slammed into him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Father. And I'm sorry for my behavior. I just don't like being cooped up in one place for days on end," Lynn said softly, reaching up and rubbing her cheek against her Fathers in apology. Fury sighed and hugged Lynn to him. "Yes, I understand, but that doesn't excuse your behavior. But I will forgive it this one time, do you understand?" "Yes, Father," Lynn said quietly, well aware of how her attitude could be construed in this time frame if anyone else had seen it. "I hate to interrupt, Uncle, but does this mean I can stop trying to restrain her…? I don't like having to do so," Kurama asked. "Yes, Kurama, you may stop. And I'm sorry for asking you to do so." Kurama sighed and ungracefully flopped on the bed, much to Fury and Lynn's amusement. "Thank Kami. I don't know how much more of that I could take," Kurama yawned out. "I'm taking a nap now," he muttered and snuggled into the bed.

Fury grinned at Kurama and looked down to Lynn. "How about me and you take a nap as well? It's been a stressful few days and we could use it. Not to mention Kurama and I will be awake and aware for the meeting later." "You've been having a lot of meetings this week, Father. Am I to assume at least some of them are about me?" Lynn asked quietly as she crawled into the bed next to Kurama. "No, dear. The meetings are about various different things having to do with the lands and incomes. Nothing at all to concern yourself with. I'd ask if you'd like to come, but as you know nothing, as of yet, about any of it, it would only serve to bore you." Lynn nodded and snuggled between him and Kurama, the day's events helping her to sleep fairly quick.

It was later after supper that Kurama and Fury left for the last meeting of the week. Lynn stayed up as late as her body would let her as she waited for them to return. She didn't know what they were talking about that would possibly take so long, but she found herself falling asleep in the chair she was sitting in. After the supper that they had taken in their room, Rin and Shippo had come by to check on her and she played with them for quite a bit as she had nothing else to do. Now she was by herself as a servant had come by to put the little ones to bed. She had even gotten so bored that she decided to take another bath even though she hadn't done anything all day and had taken one this morning. But when she began to fall asleep in the chair, she decided it was probably best to lay down before she fell on the floor and possibly hurt herself in the process.

She changed into her sleeping clothes and lay down in the bed that the three of them had taken to sharing, as it held her Father's and Kuramas' scent and it soothed her and helped her sleep. It was shortly after she fell asleep that her Youkai stirred, sensing something that she didn't as she was out like a light. Her Youkai didn't reveal itself as of yet, trying to access what was off with its' senses. When the familiar scent of a pheromone laden peacock reached her nose, her nose wrinkled. It didn't smell bad, but it was out of place considering where she was. Youko took a moment to access the situation before deciding that the peacock wasn't to be trusted and woke Lynn up, but warned her not to move yet and to take in her surroundings.

Lynn woke with a start but kept her eyes closed at her Youkais' insistence, though she wasn't sure why. It wasn't until the scent hit her nose that she found out why her Youkai woke her. She laid absolutely still, going out on a limb, which she normally wouldn't do, to allow Lord Kazuya to show that he wasn't try to harm her, even as his scent hit her system and caused her to get the tiniest bit aroused. She stiffened when Lord Kazuya placed a hand on her arm, and really hoped he didn't notice. Apparently he didn't as he moved his hand down over her arm and over her stomach. She felt her anger at his audacity boiling under her skin, but apparently he either couldn't smell her change in attitude or didn't care as he slid his hand up over her stomach to her breasts.

Unfortunately for him, she was unable to contain her anger and his hand slid over her breast and squeezed it lightly, nearly purring in the back of his throat. With a blast of her Youkai, she blew him off of her and sent him flying. He would have stopped flying when he hit the wall separating the sitting area from the bed chambers, but she flew after him and allowed as much of her Youkai into her closed right fist as possible and slammed it into his chest, causing Lord Kazuya not only to cough up blood, but send him flying through three walls as well. The noise undoubtedly caused a stir as she could vaguely hear voices, but whether it was because they were far off or her anger was making her deaf to much else, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that the bastard who dared to molest her in her own chambers where she was supposed to be safe pissed her the hell off.

She snarled after the fallen peacock and stalked after him, not even bothering with the doors, just using the holes she had created to make her way to him. Kazuya himself was trying to pick himself up from his place on the floor in an empty room, surprised that she was that strong, or that she would even react that way towards his advances, as forward as they were. "You dare?" she seethed out, no longer in her right state of mind. Her Youkai had come to the forefront in her anger, her eyes a blood red and angry vines surging up through the floors around her and Kazuya in her anger. With a silent command to her pets, she sent the vines after Kazuya, wrapping them around his shocked form and ordered them to grow deadly sharp thorns, much like the ones she had used on Sebastian.

She was so far out of it that she hadn't realized that she had gathered and audience, though none of them dared to approach her. The few guards that there were, were trying to keep back servants and nobles alike to lessen the chances of anyone else getting hurt. The only one who dared approach her was Sebastian. "My Lady, what may I ask is the problem?" he said softly, baring his neck submissively when she turned feral eyes on him. Apparently appeased by his submissive attitude, she growled out "That…that…_thing_…dared to try to molest me in my sleep knowing my current state," pointing a very sharp looking claw to the "thing" in question. Sebastian chanced a look to see to whom she was referring and gasped. 'This isn't likely to end well,' he thought to himself.

"My Lady, I understand your anger, but perhaps it would be more prudent to let My Lord Sesshomaru handle it?" Sebastian said lightly, trying not to piss her off more. She snarled at him but before she could do anything, Kurama and Fury pushed through the throng of people calling her. "Feara! What is going on?" Fury said once he reached the front and knew she'd hear him over the many voices in the corridor. Lynn turned her feral gaze on him, backing down slightly as she saw that it was her sire. "Uncle, I have to say she must be pretty pissed," Kurama said lightly, trying to keep the situation from escalating as he eyed the holes in the wall. "Pissed isn't the word for it, Kurama," she growled out gutturally. "Youko Feara," Fury said, gaining her attention as well as Kuramas'. "What is going on?" he asked slowly and with authority lining his voice, demanding an answer.

Lynn was so pissed that she didn't think she could answer coherently so she merely pointed again at the trapped peacock, who was rather close to passing out from lack of air at the moment. Fury followed the direction she pointed and gasped. "Feara! Release him this instant!" "No," she managed to growl out. "Youko Feara," Fury growled back in warning, authority lining his voice again. Lynn fought against it, unable to tell her Father fully what had happened. Sebastian, being the clever demon he was, realized this and interjected. "If I may, My Lord, before you punish her for this, I believe your daughter has a valid excuse for her…manhandling…of the Lord Kazuya," Sebastian called out, gaining the attention he hoped from Fury.

"Explain," he growled out, keeping one eye on the furious Feara who was still not submitting to him and one eye on the now passed out Lord Kazuya while Kurama coaxed the plants into releasing the Cardinal Lord. "What is going on?" a voice thundered over all the noise as a body pressed closer to the scene. Sesshomaru stepped out from behind all of the people gathered and looked around in shock. The first thing he saw was a livid Feara visibly trying to fight off her Fathers' authority. The next thing he saw where the holes in his Palace walls. Following the direction they seemed to be going, his eyes widened a bit at seeing Lord Kazuya on the floor in the next room with deadly looking vines around him and Kurama trying to talk them down and making slow progress with them.

Sesshomaru looked back to Feara. "What. Is. Going. On?" he said slowly, his anger at the situation seeping into his voice. If she didn't have a valid reason for attacking a Cardinal Lord…he didn't even want to think of the consequences of such an action. "My Lord," Sebastian called, garnering Sesshomarus' attention. "If I may, I was just about to explain to the Lord Fury what this one was told before he arrived." Sesshomaru nodded at him, unable to talk at the moment, and Sebastian thankfully knew him well enough to take that as consent to speak. "The Lady Feara has told me that the Lord Kazuya was attempting to molest her in her sleep and possibly take advantage of her condition…whatever that may be…but I must assume it to mean her heat, My Lords."

"What?" Sesshomaru and Fury snarled out at the same time, Fury dropping his Youkai to focus on the unconscious peacock. "Lady Feara, release him please," Sesshomaru growled out, barely managing to be polite as his anger and his beast hit the roof, nearly quiet literally. Lynn stared at him a moment, debating on whether she wanted to release the molesting bastard or not, but calmed down enough to realize it wasn't her place to punish the bastard and called back her pets. "Feara, is this true," Fury asked quietly and the anger that flashed in her eyes when she placed them back on him was enough to tell him that it was. He held up a hand to stall any outbursts from her and Kurama pulled her away from the area a bit and kept her close. Moments later, Lord Kazuya, now able to breath, coughed and writhed on the floor, trying to get as much air into his abused lungs as possible.

Sesshomaru nodded towards Kazuya, and a couple of guards went forward to both help the peacock to sit up as well as to restrain him. "Lord Kazuya," Sesshomaru said, his voice ice, when Kazuya managed to gather enough air to speak. Of course he didn't, but he looked at Sesshomaru giving him his attention. "Why are you at the Lady Fearas' chambers? When you left the meeting, it was to relieve yourself. Correct me if this one is wrong, but as this IS my home, I know I'm not; there are no facilities other than personal ones in this area." "I w-was going to the bathroom…and this…harlot…attacked me for no reas-reason," he said, his voice breaking from lack of air. Of course, Sesshomaru scented the lie on the peacock but before he could say anything, Fearas' Youkai flared and she attempted to get at Kazuya. He quickly placed himself between the two, facing Kazuya. He smiled a bit when he felt Feara at his back, trying to get through him without hurting him to get to Kazuya.

"Lord Kazuya, perhaps you would like to try again," Sesshomaru said icily, shooting out an arm when Feara made to move around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her look up at him before attaching herself to his arm. He smirked internally and his Youkai purred at her holding onto him to hold herself back from hurting the peacock. "Are you accusing me of lying, Lord Sesshomaru?" Kazuya growled out, which was rather impressive given that he was a bird Youkai. "This Sesshomaru isn't _accusing_ you of lying. I _know_ you are. _One_, I can _smell_ the lie on you and _two_, and I say again, this is my home, so I _know_ there is no reason for you to be on this side of the Palace, far away from the meeting room where we were gathered to talk about the financial status of all of our lands. Where there is only _private _chambers and bathrooms."

"My Lord," a kitsune guard said, if he remembered correctly, went by the name of Kaname (if you can come up with more original names be my guest, but until then, I'ma borrow names that I like from anime-if it wasn't obvious, Kaname is from Vampire Knight), his bright red eyes looking up at Sesshomaru. "What is it, Kaname?" Sesshomaru asked, not taking his eyes off of Kazuya. "If I may, My Lord, I took the liberty of scenting the room," Kaname said, bravely locking stares with his Lord as Sesshomaru jerked around to look at him. "And?" Sesshomaru asked, obviously trying to hold on to some type of sanity. "Lord Kazuya's scent is indeed in the room, as well as on the bed she seemed to have been occupying at the time," Kaname said, to which Sesshomaru snarled and turned now red eyes on Kazuya.

"Fine, I was in the room on the bed, but that doesn't prove that I molested her!" Kazuya snapped out. Kaname scoffed and grabbed Lynn's arm gently. "My Lady, if you would, where did he touch you?" Kaname asked gently. She looked over her shoulder at the tall kitsune with short black hair and eyed him warily. "Lady Feara, if you would, please answer the question," Sesshomaru urged her softly. Sighing, she muttered out, "My shoulder, down my arm, to my stomach and up to my breasts where he squeezed the left one." Sesshomaru growled at this but stayed put for the moment. Kaname pushed his hair back from his forehead as he leaned forward to sniff at said areas. After a moment, he pulled away and looked back at Sesshomaru. "His scent is still there, but barely. Your own and Lord Kuramas' have since been in contact with those areas in one way or another since then," Kaname confirmed.

At this, Kazuya freaked out when Sesshomarus' eyes turned a feral red and his pupils turned green as he snarled and made to leap at Lord Kazuya. Lynn instantly reacted and grabbed his arm again, shaking her head when he turned to look at her. "It's bad enough I attacked him, My Lord, reasonable excuse or not. If you do the same, it could cause a war, could it not? Just please, send him away," Lynn begged. Sesshomaru and his beast wanted to rip him to pieces, but at her request he held back. "Sebastian, see that this sad excuse for a bird finds its way out of my lands. I do not ever, unless it's a matter of an extreme emergency, want to see your face on my lands or in my Palace again. If you are seen, my soldiers will be given orders to kill you on the spot. However, that does not apply for your people or relatives. Just. You." Sesshomaru said, emphasizing the last two words.

Sesshomaru turned around and scooped Lynn up, smirking a bit when she squeaked, an adorable sound really, at the sudden movement, ignoring Lord Kazuyas' calls as Sebastian and a few other guards helped him to his feet and out of the Palace. "Lord Fury, I am taking Lady Feara to my personal chambers. I am aware of how unorthodox that is, however, I feel she needs some sleep in a place that I know that she will be safe in. I will have some servants escort you to a new chamber along with your things. She will be safe from any advances by any males. You have my word on that." Before Fury could say anything, Sesshomaru turned and walked down the hallway, ignoring the murmurs by the other nobles and took no notice of the looks thrown their way.

A soft "Thank you" reached his ears shortly after they left the others behind. "It is no problem. I am sorry that this occurred. It seems that people think it is alright to abuse my guests when I am not around to say anything to them about their behavior. Kazuya had no right to try to take advantage of you while you were sleeping or while you are in heat," Sesshomaru said softly, but before he could continue he glanced down and saw that she was sleeping. He smiled softly and opened the doors to his chambers, kicking the door closed behind him. He gently laid her in his bed, his Youkai content for the moment just watching over her sleep. '_Mate is tired,_' his beast said quietly. "Given everything that's happened to her these last couple of months, it isn't surprising. Especially these last couple of weeks." His beast agreed and fell silent. Sesshomaru pulled a soft sitting chair up close to the bed and quietly kept watch over her until he too fell asleep.

By the time morning came around, Lynn stirred and rubbed her eyes. Looking around, she wondered where she was, having temporarily forgotten about the things that happened last night. Once she fully woke up, she remembered everything and growled softly. She looked around again and this time found Sesshomaru, sitting in a chair next to the bed, his elbow propped on the arm of the chair with his hand propping his head up, dead to the world. She smiled softly at that. "Lord Sesshomaru," she said softly, reaching forward and tugging on his arm, jerking him awake accidentally. He looked at her confused, and still half-asleep. "Your neck is going to hurt sleeping like that. I wouldn't be surprised if it's hurting already," she murmured, pulling on his arm to get him to lay down.

He complied, not really thinking about it, mostly because his beast was urging him to lay with his mate. Of course, he could deny the mate part, but he didn't last night before he fell asleep and didn't think of it now, so his beast was certain that Sesshomaru agreed with him, at least to a certain extent. Lynn pulled him close and snuggled into his arms, not really thinking about her actions herself. Though it felt as if her Youkai was urging her to do these things. But given that she was tired herself and was attracted to him anyway. Of course she didn't think much of it herself. Sesshomaru pulled her close and fell back into a light sleep, his neck thanking him for the softer support. Lynn fell into a light sleep as well.

A couple of hours later, Sesshomaru woke with a start, the most appetizing scent hitting his nose. He groaned when he realized what it was. He mentally smacked himself when he realized just who was in his arms, in his bed, and in his room. His beast immediately came to the surface and he fought it back. "Lady Feara," he growled out, startling the poor girl into awareness. "S'up?" she said sleepily, her words slurring together. Of course she meant to say "What's up?" instead of what came out. "Please, remove yourself from my bed and chambers," he said, trying to keep his Youkai under control.

Lynn didn't know why, but a pang of hurt flashed through her as those words left her mouth. She sat up, fully awake now and looked down at him. She started to get up when she saw his eyes and how they watched her. Then she noticed the red in them. "Your Youkai is trying to get out," she said softly, not really asking but stating. "Yes," he growled out. "Go!" he pushed him away from Lynn, trying to put space between them and control his body. "You're trying protect my honor, Lord Sesshomaru, and I understand that, but can you not smell that I've already been with someone before when I was human? There is nothing for you to protect," Lynn said gently, jumping when a feral growl left Sesshomarus' lips and she was suddenly pinned to the bed.

"There's nothing you can do about it now, Lord Sesshomaru!" she said frantically. "It was my choice then and it's my choice now! I'm only telling you this because I trust you, and because you have the right to know!" Sesshomaru tried to keep his snarl in even as he listened to her words, but couldn't contain it. Lynn, in a desperate attempt to calm him, cupped his face, and rubbed his cheeks, or more specifically his stripes and rubbed them gently, trying to calm him. "I don't know what I am to you, Lord Sesshomaru, but whatever it is, I'm not your betrothed, your mate, your sibling, child or ward. If you have feelings for me then I understand your anger, especially given the laws and rules of this time. However, I am not from here. I am not from this time. You know this. And I know you have a good nose, so I know you had to have known that I have been with other humans. It's been months, but there's nothing you can do about it. Like I told my father, they won't be born for another 500 years or so, so you can't kill them, you can't track them, and you can't hurt them."

Sesshomaru tried valiantly to calm his raging beast, knowing that she was right, but his beast would have none of it. He growled at her, shaking her hands off his face snapping his teeth in her face, more or less ordering her submission. She sighed and tilted her head back, knowing what he wanted and knowing that other than her father and her cousin, that he was the only other that she would submit to. "Lord Sesshomaru," she said softly, still keeping her neck bared. "Don't. Talk." he growled out. He leaned forward and lightly sunk his teeth into her neck. She stayed perfectly still beneath him until he got control over his beast. He was finally able to talk him down into seeing reason.

"I am sorry," Sesshomaru said softly, releasing her neck and pulling back a bit. She carefully looked at him and smiled softly. "It's ok. I understand. My father reacted nearly the same way, but given that I'm not his mate, he didn't get nearly as mad as you. He just thought something was wrong with his nose. Are you ok, now?" she asked softly. He nodded and moved to get up, but stopped when Lynn again cupped his face in her hands. "Is your Youkai ok, too?" "It is rather upset, but will be fine. I managed to make him see sense, but he isn't happy about it. He…" he cut himself off, not wanting to reveal his Youkai's wishes. Lynn pulled his face down, unable to resist knowing what he was going to say, and kissed him softly.

Sesshomaru's breath caught in his throat, both surprised and pleased at the contact but knowing that he wouldn't be able to resist if she did that. He tried to pull away but Lynn only let him get so far. "My Lord," she said softly, rubbing her thumbs over his stripes, smiling a bit when she felt him shiver from the sensation. "I know what your Youkai wants. And I know what mine wants now. And what I want. I want to know what you want." Sesshomaru growled softly, trying to look away. "It doesn't matter what I want," he said, forced by her soft hands to look at her, "I cannot mate with a human or a half-breed. The problems it would cause…" Lynn scowled, cutting him off. "Is your nose stuffed up or something? You can smell me. Unless I am in my human form now, I no longer smell like a human. I no longer am a human. My Youkai is fully embedded with my human soul now, making me like Kurama, able to become like a human and smell like one when I wish, but no longer human at all."

"This Sesshomaru knows. However, the other nobles and the council members themselves will not see that," he said, pulling her hands away. "And you are the great Lord Sesshomaru I've heard so much about. You are not one to be dictated to by others. Especially when it comes to how you rule," she said, sitting up. "That being said, what difference does it make to them what you do? You'll do what you wish, as you wish. If you want to mate with me, then they can say nothing. If all you want from me is sex, they can say nothing. Isn't that right?" Sesshomaru and his beast growled at the implication of him only wanting her for sex. "If any of that is what I wish, yes. But it would diminish their belief in myself, and it would take a lot for me to regain that. I cannot afford…" "Afford to what, Lord Sesshomaru? Care? Correct me if I am wrong, My Lord, and I mean no insult with this, but your father ruled his people and loved a human woman at the same time. From what I understand, no one thought less of him because of it. Thought he was crazy, I'm sure. But no one thought less of him. Did you?" she asked softly.

Sesshomaru didn't answer. It was true. Originally, he had thought less of his father for falling in love with a human. That was until his half-brother showed his potential. His brother was weaker than he, inescapably so. But it was because of his human blood that he pushed forward as much as he did, and became stronger by doing so. So he didn't know what he thought of his father now. "I don't know much, Lord Sesshomaru, but I know that you wouldn't take forever to kill someone you didn't feel some sort of pride for. Your brother for example. I've heard stories about you and your brother. Most of them violent. But you've never killed him. Gotten close, I'm sure. But it seems you are somewhat proud of him. And Rin. You may have thought badly of your father before, but you have changed your thoughts I believe. So I know you don't care much for what the others or the council have to say, otherwise neither of them would be here in your Palace now."

Sesshomaru sat quietly as he absorbed her words. It was true, to an extent. Lynn shuffled forward and placed her lips on his cheek before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and laying her head in the crook of his neck. "You even stood up for me three times now. They already know something is up. So I ask again. What do you want?" she asked softly. Sesshomaru looked at her for a moment, trying to ignore her words. But his beast was having none of it and took over long enough for him to push her back into the sheets and kiss her senseless. By the time he regained control over his other half, he could no longer control himself and continued the kiss. Neither of them heard the knock on the door and neither heard the door opening.

Lynn was only aware there were something amiss when Sesshomaru was yanked off of her by his own personal guard. Sesshomaru growled as he was yanked away but made no attempt to attack, knowing by scent who was in his room and why. "What…?" Lynn got out before she was yanked to her feet by her furious Father and shoved into Kuramas' arms. Throwing a glare at the immobile Sesshomaru, they stalked out with Lynn in tow. Lynn didn't say a thing, knowing how furious her Father was at the moment. He took them to their rooms, furiously ranting under his breath. He didn't yell at her, or kick things, or throw them. He just paced and vented. Kurama was near about the same anger as his Uncle, but kept quiet.

"Kurama," Fury grit out. "Yes, Uncle?" he said softly, though no less angry. "Pack our things. We are leaving today. I am going to talk with Lord Sesshomaru," he sneered out Sesshomarus' name. Lynn said nothing as her Father stalked out of the room, not to him or Kurama. Instead she just quietly helped Kurama pack, knowing now why her father had wanted to keep her away from Sesshomaru. He was the Youkai that her own wanted as a mate. That was what they had discovered. And she understood why they hid it from her. Her Youkai told her why. But it still hurt to know. She and Kurama took their things out to a carriage that apparently Fury had called for. They waited silently for Fury to return outside.

Fury however, stalked back to Sesshomarus' rooms, only to be told that he was in his study and didn't wish to be disturbed. Of course, Fury ignored that, and knew Sesshomaru wouldn't say anything about it to him. So he knocked once to be polite but didn't give Sesshomaru time to answer before he pushed past the guards, who protested and tried to pull him back, into the room. Sesshomaru growled but waved a hand to dismiss them. He had breached the Foxes' trust, so he knew what was coming. Once they were alone, he spoke. "What can I-" he started, but was cut off by Fury. "What are your intentions for my daughter?" Fury said, cutting straight to the chase. Sesshomaru was quiet for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "My…Youkai…wants her as a mate. However, I…she is a half-breed, for all intents and purposes, and I cannot…"

"That is what I thought. I had thought you had changed, given the fact that there is some sort of truce between you and your half-brother, and the fact that there's a human child within your home. But it would seem that your priorities are still with worrying about trivial things such as pure blood and not. Half-breed she may have been at one time, but she is no longer one. Her Youkai has completely merged with her human soul, making her fully demon now. Not that it matters. We are leaving and will not be returning unless absolutely necessary. Thank you for the hospitality." Fury bowed before turning on his heel and leaving. Once the door was shut, Sesshomaru banged his head onto his desk for his stupidity. His beast howled and yelled at him for how stupid he was.

A/N: Wow…20 pages of MW. Heh, how'd you like my plot twist? It gets even better after this too. But I'm not telling you guys yet lol. Guess you'll just have to stick around to see eh? Lynn I loves you! Hope it makes you feel a bit better! MUAH!


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